Here’s why America still changes its clocks twice a year and what it would take to stay on daylight saving time forever
What to Know
- The Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time the new permanent time (no more time change)
- The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the legislation in March 2022, then allowed the bill to expire
- Sen. Marco Rubio then reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023
No one can deny San Diegans love sunlight. With the darker winter months of the year behind us, San Diegans can thank March’s daylight saving time (and the earth’s position as it revolves around the sun) for a whole other hour of those sweet, sweet solar rays.
Daylight saving time has Americans in every state except for Hawaii and Arizona moving their clocks an hour forward on Sunday, March 10 at 2 a.m. At that point, time will automatically more ahead to 3 a.m. Time travel!
The hours of daylight have been steadily growing since the Winter Solstice (the first day of winter). Thus, the evening of March 10 will come with a later sunset, and sunrise and sunset times will be about one hour later than the day before, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The sun will rise at 7:04 a.m. on the morning of March 10, whereas the sun rose at 6:06 a.m. on March 9, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On that first evening of DST, the sun will set at 6:53 p.m.
By the time summer truly sets in on June 20 (first official day of summer), sunset time in San Diego will stretch all the way to 8 p.m.!
On July 7, sunset time will revert to 7:59 p.m. and grow steadily earlier as the daylight saving time period recedes, according to NOAA.
If you prefer more daylight, try to get as much as of it as you can before Nov. 3, when the clocks “fall back” again.
Why the time change?
When you wake up on that Sunday at 2 a.m., yawn, adjust your sleeping cap, and wind the long hand forward an hour, you might wonder: Why are we still doing this?
Here’s why.
If you’re vaguely remembering something about a bill to stop the time change and make it permanent, it’s not just your sleep-deprived brain talking.
The twice-yearly changing of the clocks is a ritual that’s quite unpopular. Plenty of states have introduced legislation to provide year-round daylight saving time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Here’s an update on the battle to end it.
Benjamin Franklin gets credit for a lot of things, but creating Daylight Saving Time shouldn’t be one of them.