Days have been getting noticeably shorter in recent weeks, but in just over a month, clocks will take a huge leap backward as daylight saving time will officially come to an end.
Daylight saving time took effect in March, giving most Americans more daylight at the end of the day, but it will soon come to an end as fall progresses and as winter nears in the western hemisphere.
According to the terms of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, and an update that passed Congress in 2007, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March, and will come to an end on the first Sunday in November.
This year, that date falls on Nov. 6, with clocks moving back at 2 a.m. local time in 48 U.S. states and in the northeastern corner of Arizona.
That move will give Chicago an extra hour of daylight in the morning, with sunrise moving back to 6:28 a.m., but will mean that the sun will set at 4:40 p.m. on Nov. 6, according to Sunrise-Sunset.
Days will continue to get shorter through the winter solstice in December, with the earliest sunset of the year occurring on Dec. 8. The latest sunset of the season won’t occur until early January, however.
Daylight saving time was standardized by Congress in 1966, with all U.S. states but Hawaii currently observing it. Arizona’s northeastern corner does observe DST, but most of the state does not, staying on mountain standard time throughout the year.
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That could change in the near future, however. Under a bill passed by the Senate earlier this year, daylight saving time would become the new standard time of the United States beginning when clocks spring forward in March.
The House has not yet scheduled the bill for debate however, and it is unclear whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to do so, although she has indicated that she supports the measure.
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For those curious, clocks will spring forward again on March 13, 2023.
