2018-11-02

Author: Mary Knapp

Are you ready to change all of your clocks and other devices to standard time? The first Sunday in November marks the end of “daylight savings”, also known as summer time. Obviously, we aren’t saving any daylight – sunrise and sunset are following the same pattern they have for centuries. In 1918, the US completed the shift from local, solar-based time to a standard time, within time zones with the passage of the Standard Times Act. This was updated in 1966 when the Uniform Time Act became law. The thought is that with Daylight Savings, we are shifting activities that are ruled by the clock to hours with more daylight; thus saving energy. US Department of Energy studies show the energy savings to be about 1% per day. Not everyone likes the switch. Arizona and Hawaii stay on standard time year round.

Figure 1. Fall Back (CLKR.com)

Mary Knapp, Weather Data Library
mknapp@ksu.edu