The clocks jumped forward for daylight saving time this morning, giving most people an extra hour of daylight, but also changing the time difference between areas where the clock changes and areas that don’t.
Daylight saving time occurs on the second Sunday in March each year, and at 2 a.m. most clocks move forward one hour. However, not everyone participates in the spring time change, as states have the option to opt out and the clocks in Hawaii and Arizona do not change.
This means that the time difference between Hawaii and Arizona and the eastern part of the country will increase by an hour until the time changes again in fall. On Saturday, when it was 8 a.m. in Phoenix, it was 10 a.m. in New York City and 9 a.m. in Chicago and Houston. On Sunday, when it is 8 a.m. in Phoenix, it is 11 a.m. in New York City and 10 a.m. in Chicago and Houston.
While most of the country has a larger gap in the time difference with Arizona, daylight saving time reduces the difference with California. Instead of most of Arizona being an hour ahead of California if it is California at 11 a.m. on Sunday, it will also be 11 a.m. in most parts of Arizona.
Not all of Arizona keeps its clocks on standard time year round, and Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time took place on Sunday and changed the time difference between the areas where the change was observed and those where it was not. Birds fly past the clock tower at the top of the stands at Doncaster Racecourse on February 24th in Doncaster, England.
Tim Goode-Pool / Getty Images
Instead of the east coast having a time difference of five hours from Hawaii, it will increase to a time difference of six hours on Sunday. On Sunday, when it is 6 a.m. in Hawaii, it is noon in New York City, 11 a.m. in Chicago and Houston, and 9 a.m. in Los Angeles.
Most people who sleep at 2 a.m. on Sunday will wake up and the clocks have already changed. The cell phone clocks are automatically adjusted to take into account the start of summer time. However, some have a setting that can be used to turn off automatic setting.
To make sure the automatic change has happened, an iPhone user can open their settings, go to General, and select the date and time. If the switch next to “Set automatically” is green, the iPhone is showing the correct time. If it’s gray, the time on the phone is likely still standard time.
While states can oppose daylight saving time, they cannot avoid turning back the clocks in the fall, but a group of lawmakers are trying to change that. On Tuesday, five Republican Senators and three Democrats reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which aims to make daylight saving time permanent in the United States.
“The lifestyle of Americans is very different from the beginning of summer time more than a century ago,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said in a statement. “If summer time is permanent, the biannual disturbances in daily life will end and families will be given more hours of daylight after work and school.”
This isn’t the first time Senator Marco Rubio has attempted to make daylight saving time permanent, and so far it hasn’t received the traction necessary to be brought to the Senate floor.
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