Spring Forward, Fall Back

By: Marissa Miczek

Will I get an hour of extra sleep? It's a question you may be asking yourself as daylight saving time comes to an end on November 3rd, 2024. You may also simply be wondering where daylight saving time came from. Perhaps you've heard that it helps farmers or that it saves energy. I hope I can clear the clouds and share what daylight saving time really is!

Daylight saving time is the practice of moving forward by an hour in spring and back by one hour in the fall. This year it began on March 10th and we'll be turning our clocks back by an hour, returning to "standard time", on November 3rd. This means we will gain an hour in a sense, thus making our mornings sunnier but the evening catching us an hour early at around 5pm in PA. You'll see the magical shift back take place on your digital clocks at 2am. Just be sure to remember to reset analog clocks or any clocks that don't automatically adjust.

Time zones were established by the Standard Time Act in 1918. While short-lived, daylight savings was introduced in 1918 as well until repealed in 1919 due to confusion and agricultural opposition. It wasn't until World War II that it was reinstated as a wartime measure to preserve energy by reducing the need for artificial lighting. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 made it a federal law and eventually every state adopted the same daylight saving start and end times. Many institutions attribute the idea to various individuals but regardless, daylight saving time continues because of its practicality.

Hawaii and majority of Arizona don't practice daylight savings time and instead stay on standard time. Efforts were made to have a new, permanent standard time with the Sunshine Protection Act (2021), but it was not passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.