Home   News   Time Zone News   Mexico ends DST

Daylight Saving Time ends in most of Mexico

Most of Mexico, such as Mexico City (pictured above) will end DST on October 30, which is one week earlier than the United States.

Zocalo Square and Mexico City

Most of Mexico,end DST on October 30.

©iStockphoto.com/diegograndi

Clocks will be turned back one hour on Sunday, October 30, 2011 in most regions of Mexico as daylight saving time (DST) ends. The clocks will go back from 2am (02:00) to 1am (01:00) local time on October 30.

The state of Sonora does not observe DST and some cities along the United States border (see list further down) will end DST at the same time as the US, on Sunday, November 6, 2011.

Most European countries will also switch from DST to standard time on Sunday, October 30, 2011.

Mexico – USA time difference

Mexico’s DST schedule ends early in the morning on the last Sunday of October every year.

This is one week earlier than the United States’ DST change, leading to a one-hour time difference between most of Mexico and the US for one week between October 30 and November 6, 2011.

However, there are exceptions:

1: The state of Sonora in north-western Mexico does not follow DST and observes Mountain Standard Time (MST) year-round.

2: Mexico’s Congress passed a law in December 2009, bringing the DST schedule observed by northern Mexico’s border cities to be in line with the United States' DST schedule. This affects the following areas:

Mexico’s Time Zones and DST

There are three time zones in Mexico:

  • Central Standard Time (CST), which is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), or UTC-6, and applies to most of the country including Mexico City. During daylight saving time, this region observes Central Daylight Time (CDT), which is UTC-5.
  • Mountain Standard Time (MST), which is UTC-7 and applies to states such as Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Sonora. During daylight saving time these areas, except Sonora, shift to Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), which is UTC-6.
  • Pacific Standard Time (PST), which is UTC-8 and applies to areas such as Tijuana and Baja California. During daylight saving time, these areas shift to Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), which is UTC-7.