Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time
Daylight Saving Time (DST)
In 2007, both the United States and Canada extended the duration of Daylight Saving Time by four weeks. The extended Daylight
Saving Time begins on the second Sunday of March at 2:00 AM and ends on the first Sunday of November at 2:00 AM.
Prior to the change, Daylight Saving Time began on the first Sunday of April at 2:00 AM and ended on the last Sunday of October
at 2:00 AM.
In 2009, Daylight Saving Time will begin on March 8th at 2:00 AM
and will end on November 1st at 2:00 AM.
For 2010, Daylight Saving Time will begin on March 14th at 2:00 AM
and will end on November 7th at 2:00 AM.
For 2010, Daylight Saving Time will begin on March 13th at 2:00 AM
and will end on November 6th at 2:00 AM.
(See below for additional years.)
The Newfoundland Time Zone has a slightly different definition: Daylight Saving Time begins one minute after midnight
(12:01 AM) on the second Sunday in March and ends one minute after midnight (12:01 AM) on the first Sunday in November.
Not all communities observe Daylight Saving Time:
Most of Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time.
In northeastern Arizona, the Navajo Nation observes Daylight Saving Time and the
Hopi Nation (which lies within the Navajo Nation) does not.
Most of Alaska observes Daylight Saving Time, but it is not observed in the Aleutian Islands or on Saint Lawrence Island.
Hawaii does not observe Daylight Saving Time.
While most of British Columbia observes Daylight Saving Time, some eastern communities do not.
Most of Saskatchewan does not observe Daylight Saving Time, but some communities do.
Time Zones
For the areas covered by RoadsideThoughts, the eastern-most time zone is the Newfoundland Time Zone and the western-most is the
Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone.
In order from east to west, the time zones are:
| Time Zone |
Abbreviation for Standard / Daylight |
At 3:00 PM Eastern, then |
UTC Offset (in Hours) |
| |
| Newfoundland | NST / NDT | 4:30 PM | -3 1/2 |
| Atlantic | AST / ADT | 4:00 PM | -4 |
| |
| Eastern | EST / EDT | 3:00 PM | -5 |
| Central | CST / CDT | 2:00 PM | -6 |
| Mountain | MST / MDT | 1:00 PM | -7 |
| Pacific | PST / PDT | 12:00 PM | -8 |
| |
| Alaskan | AKST / AKDT | 11:00 AM | -9 |
| |
| Hawaii-Aleutian |
HAST / HADT - or - HST / HDT |
10:00 AM | -10 |
Past Daylight Saving Times:
The first year of the extended Daylight Saving Time occurred in 2007: It began on the second Sunday of March (the 11th) at
2:00 AM and ended on the first Sunday of November (the 4th) at 2:00 AM.
For the years 1987 to 2006, Daylight Saving Time began on the first Sunday of April at 2:00 AM and ended on the last
Sunday of October at 2:00 AM.
For the years 1966 to 1986, Daylight Saving Time began on the last Sunday of April and ended on the last Sunday of
October.
| Year |
DST Began |
DST Ended |
| |
| 2009 | March 8th | November 1st |
| 2008 | March 9th | November 2nd |
| 2007 | March 11th | November 4th |
| |
| 2006 | April 2nd | October 29th |
| 2005 | April 3rd | October 30th |
| 2004 | April 4th | October 31th |
| |
| 2003 | April 6th | October 26th |
| 2002 | April 7th | October 27th |
| |
| 2001 | April 1st | October 28th |
| 2000 | April 2nd | October 29th |
Future Daylight Saving Times:
| Year |
DST Began |
DST Ended |
| |
| 2010 | March 14th | November 7th |
| 2011 | March 13th | November 6th |
| 2012 | March 11th | November 4th |
| |
| 2013 | March 10th | November 3rd |
| 2014 | March 9th | November 2nd |
| |
| 2015 | March 8th | November 1st |
| 2016 | March 13th | November 6th |
|