PHOENIX — Editor's Note: The video above is from a newscast in Nov. 2023
Arizona has enjoyed not participating in Daylight Saving Time for over 50 years – but do you know why State 48 opted out? Or what DST even is?
Here’s what you need to know about "springing forward" and how it impacts Arizona.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: ¿Por qué Arizona no cambia de horario?
When is daylight saving time?
Daylight Saving Time will begin at 2 a.m. local time on March 10.
What is daylight saving time?
DST started when “war time” was established in the U.S. in 1918. The concept was supposed to help save fuel during World War I. While the rest of the country agreed, Maricopa County supervisors did not, and in 1919, Phoenix was actually in a different time zone than the rest of the state.
DST was reinstated again in World War II and then brought back permanently in 1966. Arizona tried it out, but ultimately decided DST wasn’t for desert dwellers — more sunlight in the evening means more air conditioning, more energy used, more misery… we’ll pass.
If Arizona doesn’t observe DST, why do I need to know about it?
When DST “springs forward,” Arizona is on the same time as California, Nevada, Washington, most of Oregon and northern Idaho. When clocks “fall back” one hour, we are be on the same time as New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, southern Idaho and a portion of eastern Oregon. That's Mountain Standard Time or MST. MST is Arizona’s “permanent time zone.”
The Navajo Nation in the northeast quarter of the state does observe daylight saving time. The Hopi Nation, fully surrounded by the Navajo reservation, does not.
Do any other states not observe DST?
Hawaii and Arizona are the lone rangers on this one. There are several U.S. territories, such as Guam and Puerto Rico, that do not observe DST, but only two states.
I keep hearing about DST no longer being a thing, is that true?
Some states want to stay on daylight saving time for good. But the change has not been made just yet. And even if it did, Arizona would not really be impacted.
Since the Pacific coast states move to MST during daylight saving time, which is Arizona's permanent time zone, Arizona would always be aligned with those states instead of being an hour ahead of them during the winter months.
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