When does the time change? Get ready to ‘spring forward’ this weekend
Updated Mar 09, 2021; Posted Mar 09, 2021 – By Leada Gore | lgore@al.com
If you’re tired of dark afternoons, hold on until this weekend.
Daylight saving time officially starts this weekend, meaning you’ll soon be able to soak in an extra hour of sun in the afternoon. Daylight saving time officially starts Sunday, March 14 at 2 a.m. so, for most people, that means moving clocks ahead 1 hour before going to bed on Saturday, March 13.
According to meteorologist James Spann, sunset time Sunday evening in Birmingham will be at 6:45 p.m. CDT.
This year, daylight saving time ends on Sunday, Nov. 7. It will start again on Sunday, March 13 in 2022.
And while the time change happens this weekend, you will have to wait a while longer for the official start of spring. That occurs on March 20 with spring ending on June 20 with the start of summer.
Not every state makes the change
Not every state goes through the “spring forward” and “fall back” process each year. Arizona and Hawaii do not observe DST and stay on standard time all year long.
Why do we change our clocks? A history
The origins of daylight saving time, or DST, dates back to 1784 when Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to a Paris newspaper proposing a tax on those whose windows were closed after sunrise. .The letter was meant to be satirical but the idea of moving the clock to lessen the dependence on energy sources – in Franklin’s case candles – began.
DST was officially instituted during World War I when Germany put the plan in place in an effort to conserve fuel. Europe came on board soon after, followed by the U.S. in 1918. The practice was abandoned after the way but started again in 1942 by President Franklin Roosevelt in an effort to conserve resources during World War II. The practice wasn’t made permanent in the U.S. until 1973, when President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act.
In 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act, establishing the current schedule. Clocks are set ahead one hour on the second Sunday in March and back again the first Sunday in November