Daylight saving time will soon end in the United States, meaning clocks will be set back one hour.
Daylight saving time began at 2 a.m. on March 6 this year, moving the clocks forward one hour. It ends on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 2 a.m., meaning 2 a.m. becomes 1 a.m. and that hour is repeated, adding an extra hour that day to return to standard time.
What is daylight saving time?
Daylight saving time is the time of year when clocks are moved one hour ahead.
Why does the United States have daylight saving time?
Daylight saving time creates more evening daylight during the warmest months.
Clocks are set one hour ahead at the start of daylight saving time in spring, then moved back an hour to return to standard time in fall. A common phrase to remember what to do is “spring forward” and “fall back.”
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), daylight saving time was formally introduced in the United States in 1918 to help conserve power during World War I. More daylight hours were added to the day to help reduce energy costs. It used to be nicknamed “war time” instead of “springing forward,” according to the Department of Defense.
Most of the country and its territories observe it except for Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the state of Arizona (except the Navajo Indian Reservation, which does observe daylight saving time).
Isn’t there a proposal to end daylight saving time permanently?
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which proposes to end daylight saving time permanently, in July. The vote was 308-117.
The bill is currently stalled in the U.S. Senate. Since it’s still being reviewed, America is still scheduled to turn the clocks back an hour on Nov. 1.
The United States tried to permanently end it in the 1970s, but it didn’t last.
What does this mean for Michigan?
Sunrises will be earlier, but darkness will arrive noticeably sooner in the late afternoon.
After Nov. 1, the sun will set at around 5 p.m. for most of Michigan until the winter solstice on Dec. 21. After that, the sun will set later and later until the summer solstice.
On the bright side (no pun intended), we get an extra hour of sleep on Nov. 1.
