Time to spring forward, daylight saving time returns Sunday

Photo by stevanovicigor/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — People waking up on Sunday thinking the world has moved an hour ahead of them will be right. It’s time to spring forward and move the clocks ahead again.

Photo illustration. | Photo by Albachiaraa,
iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

Sunday will mark the start of daylight saving time as the time will move ahead one hour as of 2 a.m. Sunday morning.

For those tired of the chore of fixing every clock in the house and on their car’s dashboard, this may be one of the last times Utahns have to worry about the time change.

Earlier this month, the Utah legislature passed and sent for Gov. Gary Herbert’s signature a measure that would make daylight saving time permanent in Utah.

Besides the governor’s signature, the measure stipulates that the U.S. Congress will have to authorize that such a change is allowed and four other Western states also have to make that same switch to permanent Daylight Saving Time.

A little history

Starting on April 30, 1916, Germany and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use daylight saving time as a way to conserve coal during wartime. Britain, most of its allies and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the next year, and the United States adopted it in 1918.

WWI-era poster promoting Daylight Saving Time, Date unknown | Public domain photo, St. George News

During the energy crisis of the 1970s, Congress passed an act keeping daylight saving time year-round. That lasted from Jan. 6, 1974, to Feb. 23, 1975, when the order was rescinded, allowing standard time to return Oct. 27, 1975.

Hawaii is the only state that has fully opted out of daylight saving time. The majority of Arizona also does not observe it. However the Navajo Nation, which is primarily situated in Arizona and extends into Utah and New Mexico, does observe the time change. The Hopi Nation, completely surrounded by the Navajo Nation, does not observe daylight saving time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ed. note: Portions of this article originally appeared in November 2018 coinciding with the end of daylight saving time.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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