Why does sun rise further north of where it does any other time of year? I know rises differently depending on the season but this is like never seen [duplicate]

Question

I’ve lived in the outskirts of the city (San Diego). The sun obviously rises in the same place every morning and changes a little as the year progresses. Now it is so far to the left of my normal view in any given time of the year. I know it sounds crazy but where it is rising is nowhere close to any other time in the may years I’ve lived here.

Answer 1

Nothing did change except the keenness of your observation. That Sun and Moon rise exactly in the East and set in the West is only true on two days in the year, at equinoxes in Spring and Fall.

The direction the Sun rises varies in the mid latitudes quite a bit over the course of the year between summer and winter. On the Northern hemisphere in summer the rise (and set) direction of the Sun are more Northern and allow the Sun to make a higher and longer arc over the sky in the course of the day. Conversely in winter they are more Southern and the apparent path of the Sun across the sky is more shallow and shorter. This effect is more pronounced the more you approach the polar circle, up to a point where the Sun will never set in mid-summer and never rise in mid-winter polewards of the polar circle. There is an interesting blog here which shows the rise and set directions for Greenwich, but it will be principally similar in San Diego.