Daylight Saving Time Approaches: What You Need to Know

Most Americans should prepare for an earlier bedtime this Saturday night, as they’re about to lose an hour of sleep.

Daylight saving time is right around the corner, which means that come Sunday, the clocks will jump from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. in mere seconds. On the upside, this “spring forward” will extend the daylight into the evening, brightening up many people’s commutes home.

This new schedule will last until November when standard time makes its comeback just ahead of the holiday season.

Here’s everything you need to know about “spring forward” this weekend, including its origins, the two states that don’t participate, and the ongoing efforts to make time changes a thing of the past.

Daylight saving time kicks off on Sunday, March 9, at 2 a.m. local time.

Spanning from March to November, daylight saving time involves moving clocks ahead by one hour to enjoy more evening daylight in the summer. We lose an hour in March (as opposed to regaining it in the fall). In the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal equinox on March 20 marks the official onset of spring.

For 2023, daylight saving time concludes on Sunday, November 2.

Neither Hawaii nor most of Arizona observes daylight saving time. In Arizona, given its desert environment, there’s little incentive to shift clocks to later sunsets during the scorching summer, except for the Navajo Nation, which follows the time change. After the majority of the U.S. adopted the Uniform Time Act, Arizona decided that the timing wasn’t beneficial for them.

The first instance of legally mandated standard and daylight saving times at the federal level was under the Standard Time Act of 1918. This law established federal oversight of time zones, initially placing this responsibility with the Interstate Commerce Commission. In 1966, this duty shifted to the Department of Transportation (DOT), aligning time zone management with federal transportation oversight.

According to the DOT, it oversees both daylight saving observance and U.S. time zones, citing benefits like saving energy and reducing crime associated with the adjustments.

Efforts to make daylight saving time a permanent national standard have stalled out in committee, despite several bills introduced at the start of the year. Officials, including President Donald Trump, have voiced a desire to abolish these clock changes. In a December Truth Social post, Trump expressed that “the Republican Party will strive to end daylight saving time.” However, since starting his second term in January, the president hasn’t taken executive action on the matter, and Congress, even with a slight Republican majority, hasn’t advanced any significant legislation on this issue.