When Do We Turn Clocks Back and Ahead?

Spring ahead, fall back. That’s the saying, right?

Despite attempts to change the law the U.S.A. still clings to the old habit of switching back and forth to Daylight Savings time.  The saying “Spring ahead” refers to the practice of turning the clocks ahead in the spring … and “Fall back” means we turn the clocks back in the autumn, or fall.

Specifically, under current law, clocks go forward by one hour on the second Sunday in March each year, at 2:00 am.  That practice invokes Daylight Savings Time.

Then clocks go back by one hour on the first Sunday each November.  The “fall back” switch also comes at 2:00 am.

So it’s pretty easy to figure the dates on which to move the clocks ahead in the spring and back in the fall by knowing that the changes occur on the second Sunday every March and the first Sunday every November.  Both changes take place at 2:00 in the morning.

At the same time, unless you actually stay up late on the applicable Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday then you might as well turn your clocks to the new time before you hit the sack for the night.

Official Time Change Info:

U.S. Time Changes:

Set Clocks AHEAD One Hour:

Second Sunday every March at 2:00 am

Set Clocks BACK One Hour:

First Sunday every November at 2:00 am

What is Daylight Savings Time?

Why is this on a legal blog? As with so many things now the law dictates this aspect of our lives. A 2005 act of Congress, “The U.S. Energy Policy Act”, required moving clocks ahead the second weekend of March each year, launching the country into Daylight Savings Time. The same law requires turning the clocks back in the fall, ending Daylight Savings Time, every year on the first weekend of November. Before this Congressional action, annual time changes usually occurred in October and sometimes varied by state.

An old tale pins responsibility for Daylight Savings time on Benjamin Franklin. The founding father coined the phrase: “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. The advice originally appeared in Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac.

Apparently the tale giving Franklin actual credit for the time changes is, like many stories, only a myth. Europeans started their own version of Daylight Savings Time during World War One as a means to economize use of fuel.

Who doesn’t Follow Daylight Savings Time?

Turning the clocks back applies most everywhere in the USA with the exception of Hawaii and Arizona. Those two states refuse to embrace daylight savings time so they did not set the clocks ahead in the spring, and there’s no need to set them back in the fall.

Florida’s House and Senate voted to permanently get rid of the practice of setting the clocks ahead and then back again and the governor signed the bill into law in March 2018. However, Congressional action is required authorizing Florida’s exemption from something called the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Congress has not approved Florida’s action so the state is still with the mostly national practice.

Lawmakers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire considered proposals to get rid of Daylight Savings time. The bills sit around in the hopper called “further study”, while each state watches what lawmakers in the other one do.

Who Doesn’t Spring Ahead – Fall Back?

Arizona and Hawaii at present represent the only U.S. states not going along with turning the clocks ahead in spring, back in fall. Puerto Rico and most of the overseas territories including Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands also refuse to recognize Daylight Savings adjustments to the clock, The U.S. Energy Act extended Daylight Savings time in part to reduce energy consumption. But a report by the Department of Energy itself found an energy savings of only .03%, three one hundredths of one percent, in the first year of the law. In other areas energy consumption actually went up, notably in Indiana, where an increase of 1% was noted.

With the internet and social media things can get confusing. The Southern Hemisphere observes opposite time switches, going back an hour when the northern hemisphere goes forward and vice versa. So, anyone with Facebook or other social media friends who live south of the equator may see contrary posts.

Don’t be confused.

Does Anyone Still Physically Turn Clocks Back?

Digital devices like smart phones & watches, computers, cable TV boxes, and other gadgets and gizmos adjust for the twice-annual time shifts automatically. Only older devices like manual clocks and watches actually require a physical adjustment one way or the other, depending on the time of year. Older cars also have time displays requiring a manual setting change.

Proponents cling to the old idea of moving the clocks back and forth.  The U.S. Department of Transportation, for example, claims that Daylight Savings Time saves energy.  The idea is that pushing the sunset back an hour in the spring means reduced demand for electricity for household lights and appliances.

Others contend ample evidence supports negative short-term consequences caused by seasonal time changes.  Such consequences include disorientation, mood changes, fatigue and reduced concentration.

Until lawmakers at the federal level resolve the conflict over the clock the rest of us need to … spring ahead and fall back.

Photo: The clock shown in this article is the Ayer Mill clock in Lawrence Massachusetts. The Ayer Mill Clock Tower is the largest mill clock in the world. According to the Essex County (Massachusetts) Community Foundation, the four large clock faces are only 6 inches smaller than Big Ben in London. Ayer Mill, on Merrimack Street, Lawrence, is a short drive from the Methuen, Massachusetts location of the Law Offices of Andrew D. Myers.

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