Current:Home > ScamsDo all Americans observe daylight saving time? Why some states and territories don't. -Zenith Money Vision
Do all Americans observe daylight saving time? Why some states and territories don't.
View
Date:2025-04-11 15:40:41
Millions of Americans will wake up feeling more refreshed on Sunday thanks to an extra hour of sleep gained from the ending of daylight saving time.
But the twice-annual time change observance, which begins in March and ends in November, is not observed in all U.S. states and territories.
The time change is meant to allow for more daylight in the mornings during the fall and winter and more daylight in the evenings during the spring and summer, as the Northern Hemisphere tilts either toward or farther away from the sun.
Here's what to know about the U.S. states and territories that do not observe daylight saving time.
Video:Watch the top astronomy events for November 2024
Does every state observe daylight saving time?
Not all states and U.S. territories participate in the time change.
If a state chooses to observe daylight saving time, it must begin and end on federally mandated dates, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Under the Uniform Time Act, which was established in 1966, states can exempt themselves from observing daylight saving time.
Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time. Because of its desert climate, Arizona doesn't follow daylight saving time (with the exception of the Navajo Nation). After most of the U.S. adopted the Uniform Time Act, the state figured that there wasn't a good reason to adjust clocks to make sunset occur an hour later during the hottest months of the year.
There are also five other U.S. territories that do not participate:
- American Samoa
- Guam
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Puerto Rico
- U.S. Virgin Islands
The Navajo Nation, located in parts of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, does follow daylight saving time.
Hawaii is the other state that does not observe daylight saving time. Because of the state's proximity to the equator, there is not a lot of variance between hours of daylight during the year.
When does daylight saving time end in 2024?
Daylight saving time will end for the year at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 3, when we "fall back" and gain an extra hour of sleep.
Next year, it will begin again on Sunday, March 9, 2025.
What is daylight saving time?
Daylight saving time is the time between March and November when most Americans adjust their clocks ahead by one hour.
We gain an hour in November (as opposed to losing an hour in the spring) to make for more daylight in the winter mornings. When we "spring forward" in March, it's to add more daylight in the evenings. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox is Sunday, Sept. 22, marking the start of the fall season.
Is daylight saving time ending?
The push to stop changing clocks was put before Congress in the last couple of years, when the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, a bill to make daylight saving time permanent.
Although the Sunshine Protection Act was passed unanimously by the Senate in 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives did not pass it and President Joe Biden did not sign it.
A 2023 version of the act remained idle in Congress, as well.
In a news release Monday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio made another push in support of making daylight saving time permanent.
The senator suggested the nation "stop enduring the ridiculous and antiquated practice of switching our clocks back and forth. Let’s finally pass my Sunshine Protection Act and end the need to ‘fall back’ and ‘spring forward’ for good."
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY.
veryGood! (916)
Related
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Mark Carnevale, PGA Tour winner and broadcaster, dies at 64
- Harris to visit battleground Wisconsin in first rally as Democrats coalesce around her for president
- July is Disability Pride Month. Here's what you should know.
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Israel shoots down missile fired from Yemen after deadly Israeli strike on Houthi rebels
- 2024 Olympics: A Guide to All the Couples Competing at the Paris Games
- For Appalachian Artists, the Landscape Is Much More Than the Sum of Its Natural Resources
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- Horoscopes Today, July 21, 2024
Ranking
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- New Mexico village battered by wildfires in June now digging out from another round of flooding
- Gigi Hadid Gives Her Honest Review of Blake Lively’s Movie It Ends With Us
- Cyber security startup Wiz reportedly rejects $23 billion acquisition proposal from Google
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- The Bear Fans Spot Season 3 Editing Error About Richie's Marriage
- Fourth Wing TV Show Reveals New Details That Will Have You Flying High
- Watchdog who criticized NYPD’s handling of officer discipline resigns
Recommendation
Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
Children of Gaza
Team USA Basketball Showcase highlights: US squeaks past Germany in final exhibition game
FBI says man, woman may be linked to six human-caused wildfires in southern New Mexico
Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
Man convicted of kidnapping Michigan store manager to steal guns gets 15 years in prison
Missing Arizona woman and her alleged stalker found dead in car: 'He scared her'
Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says Paris Olympics will be final event of storied career