John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints
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Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time)
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the name used in the United States for what is called summer time in Britain. I think Canada also calls it Daylight Saving Time. Clocks and watches are advanced by one hour in the spring and retarded by one hour in the autumn. This can be remembered by the mnemonic "Spring forward - Fall back".
Winter time is called standard time in the USA (and Canada, I think).
When referring to times, the relevant time zone is often also stated.
Most American states and Canadian provinces and territories observe Daylight Saving Time in the summer, and switch between standard time and Daylight Saving Time on the same dates. Daylight Saving Time in the USA and Canada almost always begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October.
However, there are unfortunately some special cases with regard to Daylight Saving Time, which make for considerable confusion.
- Arizona (in the Mountain time zone) does not observe Daylight Saving Time. It remains on standard time year-round.
- Hawaii (in the Aleutian/Hawaii time zone) does not observe daylight saving time. It remains on standard time year-round.
- Indiana's easternmost five counties are in the Eastern time zone and observe Daylight Saving Time. Indiana's central seventy-seven counties are in the Eastern time zone and do not observe Daylight Saving Time. They stay on standard time year-round. Indiana's westernmost ten counties are in the Central time zone and observe Daylight Saving Time.
- According to one source, most of Saskatchewan (in the Central Time zone) does not observe Daylight Saving Time and stays on standard time year-round.
Areas which do not observe Daylight Saving Time appear to shift time zones relative to those which do, although this is an illusion.
Finally, it might just be worth mentioning here that in Europe the countries of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland are all one hour ahead of GMT and (as far as I am aware) all observe summer time, although their changeover dates may not be the same as those in the USA and Canada. Britain also observes summer time and is generally one hour (and, some would say, thirty years!) behind these countries.
Time Zones
Canada - General
USA - General
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Most recently modified 15-Feb-01