When it’s time to retreat, it’s also time to check the smoke detectors
The time when you change your clocks for daylight saving time is also a good time to make sure your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are working.
Ready for an extra hour of sleep?
For millions of Americans, this will soon become a reality, as daylight saving time ends this year. The twice-yearly time change, which ensures evenings in spring and summer and more daylight in fall and winter, begins in March and ends in November.
The one-hour shift can cause confusion and disrupt sleep patterns, and in recent years has even prompted Congress to take action to potentially end the practice.
But for now, Daylight Saving Time is still in effect for most, but not all, Americans. Here’s what you need to know before it ends this year.
Hope, Alaska: “The most romantic city in the universe”
When does daylight saving time end in 2024?
On Sunday, November 3, daylight saving time ends for this year at 2 a.m. local time. Then we can “turn back the clock” and sleep an hour longer.
Next year it will start again on Sunday, March 9, 2025.
What is daylight saving time?
Daylight saving time is the period between March and November when most Americans set their clocks forward one hour.
In November, we gain an hour (as opposed to an hour we lose in spring) to have more daylight in the mornings during winter. When we “move forward” the clocks in March, it means there is more daylight in the evenings. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumn equinox is on Sunday, September 22, and marks the beginning of autumn.
When did daylight saving time start in 2024?
Daylight saving time began in 2024 on Sunday, March 10, at 2 a.m. local time, when our clocks went forward one hour as part of the twice-yearly time change that affects most, but not all, Americans.
Will daylight saving time end?
The push to abolish daylight saving time was brought to Congress in recent years when the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, a bill to permanently implement daylight saving time.
Although the Sunshine Protection Act of 2022 passed the Senate unanimously, it failed to pass the U.S. House of Representatives and was not signed into law by President Joe Biden.
A 2023 version of the law also remained unused in Congress.
Does daylight saving time exist in all states?
Not all U.S. states and territories participate in Daylight Saving Time.
Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time. Because of its desert climate, Arizona does not observe daylight saving time (except for the Navajo Nation). After most of the U.S. passed the Uniform Time Act, the state concluded there was no good reason to change the clocks so that sunset occurs an hour later during the hottest months of the year.
In addition, five other US territories are not participating:
- American Samoa
- Guam
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Puerto Rico
- US Virgin Islands
Daylight saving time is observed in the state of Navajo, which includes parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.
Hawaii is the other state that does not observe daylight saving time. Due to its proximity to the equator, there is not much variation in daylight hours throughout the year.
