USA and Canada End DST on November 7, 2010

The clocks will shift back at 2am (02:00) local time to 1am (01:00) in most areas across the USA and Canada on this date.

Clocks Fall Back in the United States and Canada

The United States’ current DST schedule states that daylight saving time would begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. The US uses nine standard time zones and zones that observe daylight saving time will move their clocks back from 2am to 1am at their local time.

This observance is in line with section 110 of the United States’ Energy Policy Act of 2005, which first came into effect in 2007. However, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 does not alter the rights of the states and territories that choose not to observe daylight saving time.

In Canada, the time zones and daylight saving time schedule is determined by provincial legislation and exceptions may exist in some municipalities.

There is more information about the Daylight Saving Time Dates for 2010 for the United States and Canada, as well as other parts of the world on our website.

Areas That Do Not Observe DST

States and territories in the United States and Canada that do not observe daylight saving time include:

• Hawaii.
• American Samoa.
• Guam.
• Puerto Rico.
• The Virgin Islands.
• Most of Arizona except the Navajo Nation Community.
• Some areas of Québec, east of 63° west longitude.
• Most of Saskatchewan.
• Southampton Island.

Although the state of Indiana did not observe daylight saving time in the past, it is now united in observing the DST schedule despite being split into different time zones. However, there are still groups such as the Hoosiers for Central Time Coalition, who continue to propose the entire state to move to the Central time zone to make it safer for school children during the dark winter months. A proposed legislation will be introduced in January in hopes that the entire state of Indiana will move into the Central time zone.

Moreover, Dickinson city commissioner Shirley Dukart recently pushed for a time zone change in Stark County, North Dakota. The plan called for the county to move one hour ahead from the Mountain time zone to the Central time zone. However, the result of the proposed time zone change in Stark County, North Dakota was rejected by the residents in the June 2010 ballot.

In Canada, some areas of Québec, east of 63° west longitude, remain on Atlantic Standard Time (AST) all year round, while Southampton Island remains on Eastern Standard Time (EST) all year long. Most of Saskatchewan is on one uniform time all year round by remaining on Central Standard Time (CST) throughout the year. This allows the region to share the same time observed by Alberta during the summer (Mountain Daylight Time) and observe the same time zone as Manitoba (Central Standard Time) in the winter.

Annual Safety Reminders When DST Ends

The International Association of Fire Chiefs and Energizer annually remind citizens of the various safety precautions that are often publicly announced to coincide with the end of daylight saving time in the United States and Canada. These reminders include changing the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. These safety precautions are important because about 19 percent of households in the US do not have working smoke alarms due to missing or dead batteries.

Many Americans and Canadians are also reminded to clean and inspect their chimneys and keep combustibles away from heat sources as they prepare for the colder winter months. Energy efficient lighting is advised by the California Energy Commission after the end of DST due to the shorter amount of sunlight during the days. It is important to synchronize these safety reminders with the end of DST so that people can take the proper safety precautions as they wind their clocks one hour back.

Note: Any reference to summer or winter in this article relates to summer and winter in the northern hemisphere. Many people use the phrase "daylight savings time" but the correct term is "daylight saving time". Daylight saving time is also known as "summer time" in some countries.

Dates of Daylight Saving Time 2000–2015

These are the dates Daylight Saving Time started and ended in most of the United States and the planned dates until 2015. There is a chance that future dates will change. Also, note that some locations do not observe DST, but those locations that do should use these common start and ending dates.