Breckenridge Texan

At 2 a.m. Sunday, March 13, Daylight Saving Time will begin and clocks will need to be moved forward one hour to 3 a.m.

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Time and Frequency Division, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the period of the year when clocks are moved one hour ahead. “In the United States, this has the effect of creating more sunlit hours in the evening during months when the weather is the warmest,” according to the website. “We advance our clocks ahead one hour at the beginning of DST, and move them back one hour (“spring forward, fall back”) when we return to standard time (ST). The transition from ST to DST has the effect of moving one hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. The transition from DST to ST effectively moves one hour of daylight from the evening to the morning.”

The United States started using DST in 1918, and it continues in most of the country and its territories, except for Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the state of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation, which does observe DST), according to the NIST, the official timekeeper for the United States.

The U. S. Department of Transportation, which regulates the U.S. time zones and DST, says that DST is observed for several reasons, including:

• It saves energy.  During Daylight Saving Time, the sun sets one hour later in the evenings, so the need to use electricity for household lighting and appliances is reduced. People tend to spend more time outside in the evenings during Daylight Saving Time, which reduces the need to use electricity in the home. Also, because the sunrise is very early in the morning during the summer months, most people will awake after the sun has already risen, which means they turn on fewer lights in their homes.
• It saves lives and prevents traffic injuries. During Daylight Saving Time, more people travel to and from school and work and complete errands during the daylight.
• It reduces crime. During Daylight Saving Time, more people are out conducting their affairs during the daylight rather than at night, when more crime occurs.

The current DST schedule has been in place since 2007. DST begins at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March (at 2 a.m. the local time time skips ahead to 3 a.m., so there is one less hour in the day) and ends at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of November (at 2 a.m. the local time becomes 1 a.m. and that hour is repeated, so there is an extra hour in the day).

Most cell phones and computers will automatically update to the correct time. However, devices that are not connected to the internet or do not have updated software may not change correctly. Additionally, analog or traditional clocks and watches will probably have to be changed manually.

To check the official U.S. time, visit the website time.gov.