Daylight saving time 2024: When will the clocks “change” in the USA?

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Stay up to date with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more

As the colder months approach, many US residents will also see more hours of daylight in the mornings and darker evenings due to the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST).

Daylight saving time moves the clock forward one hour each spring, starting on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November. However, this was not always the case.

This year, Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 3rd – when most people in the US can sleep an hour longer.

When does daylight saving time begin and end?

In the United States, Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March, which fell on March 10, 2024. At 2 a.m. local time, most Americans' clocks were set forward one hour.

Daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. local time on November 3, 2024, when we “fall back” and gain an extra hour of sleep. It will take place again next year on Sunday, March 9, 2025.

Who follows Daylight Saving Time?

According to the National Institutes of Standard and Technology (NIST), most states in the United States follow daylight saving time rules, with the exception of Arizona, the Navajo Indian Reservation and Hawaii.

The territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands also do not follow this practice.

Why do we observe daylight saving time?

According to reports, the idea of ​​daylight saving time was first proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. However, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, it was not uniformly implemented until 1966, when the Uniform Time Act was created.

Although there have been previous periods when the United States adopted daylight saving time – including during World War II, when President Roosevelt instituted year-round daylight saving time called “war time” – the Uniform Time Act required all states to observe a time that in the four main time zones and follow daylight saving time unless the entire state agrees to an exception. The Uniform Time Act also meant that all states would implement the time change at the same time.

In later years, the Department of Transportation hypothesized that daylight saving time could have a positive impact on violent crime rates, traffic safety, and energy conservation. However, a later report noted that there were minimal changes in the implementation of daylight saving time.

Daylight saving time, which the United States now uses, was only introduced in 2007, when it was decided that it should begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. The annual training previously took place from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.

Daylight saving time is now observed 238 days a year.

Do you need to change your clocks manually?

Most watches update the time independently. However, certain device clocks may require the time to be updated manually.

Some watches may also have a DST on/off function that must be turned on to change the time.

Why are some Americans calling for an end to daylight saving time?

In recent years, the practice of daylight saving time has become increasingly unpopular, and several states have introduced bills to abolish the practice of changing the time. In March 2022, the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent in the United States. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in March 2023 but has yet to be passed.