Daylight saving time 2024: Don't forget to turn back the clocks on this day

You've probably noticed that your afternoon commute is getting darker every day. This is a sure sign that daylight saving time is coming to an end and the time change is just around the corner.

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 3rd. On this day we “fall back” an hour to allow more daylight into the morning hours. We will remain in standard time with sunnier mornings and darker afternoons until Daylight Saving Time begins again on Sunday, March 9, 2025.

For most people, that means setting all manual clocks back an hour before bedtime on the evening of November 3rd. Modern technology does the rest with phones, computers and cars that automatically adjust the time.

Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March every year and ends on the first Sunday in November. The time change is observed in all US states except two – Hawaii and most of Arizona, where all parts of the state except the Navajo Nation observe the time change.

The twice-yearly changing of clocks, introduced during the war to save energy, has become increasingly popular in recent years, and as many as 19 states – including Alabama – have drafted measures to eliminate the practice. But congressional action is needed to permanently end the practice, and so far federal lawmakers have been slow to act.

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the change to daylight saving time was officially introduced in the United States in 1918 as an energy-saving measure to provide more daylight during times when people were outside. It ended after World War I but was resumed in World War II. After the war, local jurisdictions were free to determine whether they observed daylight saving time and what dates they used.

The dates for Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time have changed several times throughout their history, most recently in 2007, when the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended the length of Daylight Saving Time by one month to reduce energy consumption.