Yay! An Extra Hour of Sleep is Coming on Nov. 7 as DST Expires
I know I'm way out in front of this but anytime someone says we are getting an extra hour of sleep, I'm all ears.
NOT LONG AGO
Let's flashback to earlier this year, March 14th to be exact, when we went to bed and lost an hour of sleep. That was the beginning of Daylight Saving Time (DST) for many of us. I say many of us because not everybody observes Daylight Saving Time.
Most of the U.S. states observe DST except Hawaii and most of Arizona. The Navajo Nation is the only part of Arizona that does. Several U.S. territories do not observe DST including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A HISTORY OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
According to Time and Date, Daylight Saving Time was first used in Thunder Bay, Canada as a way to save energy and utilize more of the daytime sun. Germany and Austria would start observing DST in 1916, during World War 1. Once Germany started to observe DST, many other countries would do the same. After the war, many of those countries went back to Standard Time. That would change once again once World War II started.
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME IN THE U.S.
Here in the U.S., Daylight Saving Time was first observed in 1918 and become federal policy in 1966, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. All states except Hawaii, which observes Hawaii Standard Time (HST) all year, and most of Arizona which observes Mountain Standard Time (MST) year-round, observe Daylight Saving Time.
LET'S MAKE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERMANENT
Currently, states can only opt out of DST but some want to make DST permanent. 19 states have passed legislation on permanent DST but Congress must first pass a law that would allow states to do so. Texas by the way, not one of the 19 states.
SPRING FORWARD, FALL BACK
Daylight Saving Time only lasts for a certain time during the year. DST begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. As a kid I would get confused on what was what when it came to setting the clock until someone said something that has stuck with me ever since, "Spring Forward, Fall Back." March is Spring so we set the clock ahead, losing an hour of sleep. In November, Fall, we set the clocks back, regaining that hour we lost in March.
IT'S TIME TO FALL BACK
So here we are, Fall time in the U.S. which means as Daylight Saving Time ends, we get that lost hour of sleep back I so desperately need. On Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 2am in the morning, Daylight Saving Time will end and Standard Time will resume. Most digital clocks, like the one on your phone, will adjust automatically. Others will need to be set by hand either before you go to bed on Saturday November 6, or when you wake up on Sunday morning, November 7.
Just a friendly reminder that Daylight Saving Time will end in less than two weeks!