Qibla direction in Reno

How to face the Qibla in Reno

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 21.1° towards east: the result is the bearing of 21.1°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 21° off.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Reno, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Reno to Mecca points to 97.6° (east), a full 76.4° away from the true Qibla of 21.1° (north). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 2,408 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Reno first heads north, and that is the direction to face.

The value of 21.1° is the direction in which the shortest route from 39.5296° N, 119.8138° W sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Reno to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 12,915 km from Reno as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 12,585 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 15 h 42 min, although most pilgrims from Reno connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Reno run 11 hours behind Mecca in winter and 10 hours behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Reno rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Reno

From Reno the sun never rises high in the Qibla direction of 21.1°, so you cannot simply face the sun. The opposite method works instead, as the right-hand column of the table shows.

On 365 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 13:26.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Reno (02:18 and 02:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 13:29 and 28 November 2027 at 13:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Reno points straight to Mecca.

Reno compared with other cities

Compared with Washington D.C., 3,651 km away, the Qibla in Reno is turned 35.4° further anticlockwise (21.1° against 56.6°), and Mecca is 2,282 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Roseville (154 km), prays towards 19.8°, a difference of 1.3°.

Across the 244 cities in the United States on this site, the Qibla ranges from 17.2° in Hillsboro to 350.9° in Anchorage, a spread of 333.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for United States.

Qibla in cities near Reno

• Roseville19.8° · 154 km
• Chico19.1° · 175 km
• Sacramento19.6° · 179 km
• Elk Grove19.8° · 183 km
• Stockton20.0° · 217 km
• Modesto20.3° · 234 km