Most of North America Springs Forward March 14, 2010

Most of the United States, Canada and some of northern Mexico’s border regions will spring forward for daylight saving time (DST) on Sunday, March 14, 2010. On this day, the clocks will move one hour forward from 2am (02:00) to 3am (03:00) local time. DST allows for more light during the evening hours and less in the morning.

The March 14 daylight saving date in 2010 is the latest starting date for the United States’ and Canada’s daylight saving schedule, which begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November each year. This DST arrangement also applies to some of Mexico’s northern border regions, which will observe the USA’s and Canada’s DST schedule in 2010 and future years.

Latest Start and End Dates

The United States, Canada and some of northern Mexico’s border regions (which follow the United States’ daylight saving schedule) will observe DST on March 14, 2010. March 14 will always be the latest daylight saving start date with the current daylight saving schedule for these countries/regions. This is because DST is set to start on the second Sunday of March each year.

Moreover, DST will end in these countries on November 7, 2010, making this date the latest end date for the current DST schedule, which ends on the first Sunday of November.

What People Do When it is Time to Spring Forward?

Various safety reminders are often synchronized with the DST start or end date to remind people to take safety precautions as they wind their clocks one hour back. Safety reminders include changing smoke alarm batteries and carbon monoxide detectors.

For some tourist attractions or businesses in the USA, DST means longer operating hours in the evenings. Irrigation timetables may also change in some towns or cities when the clocks are set one hour ahead for daylight saving time.

DST Arrangements in the USA, Canada, and Northern Mexico

Daylight saving time in many parts of the United States lines up with section 110 of the United States’ Energy Policy Act of 2005, which states that daylight saving time would begin on the second Sunday of March and it would end on first Sunday of November. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 does not alter the rights of the states and territories that choose not to observe daylight saving time.

Time zones and daylight saving time in Canada are determined by provincial legislation and exceptions may exist in some municipalities. 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. The proposed daylight saving arrangement will affect the following areas:

• Tijuana.
• Mexicali.
• Ciudad Juarez.
• Ojinaga.
• Ciudad Acuña.
• Piedras Negras.
• Anahuac.
• Nuevo Laredo.
• Reynosa.
• Matamoros.

On another note, Cuba will start its 2010 daylight saving schedule at midnight (00:00) between Saturday, March 13, and Sunday, March 14. The clocks will move forward by one hour at this time. timeanddate.com’s Daylight Saving Time Dates for 2010 has more detailed information about the daylight saving end date for the United States, Canada, northern Mexico, and other parts of the world.

Areas in the USA with No DST

States and territories in the United States 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 parts of Indiana previously did not observe daylight saving time but the state is now united in observing the schedule despite being split into different time zones. Still, there are groups that campaign to change the time in parts of Indiana. For example, the Hoosiers for Central Time Coalition continues to pitch for the entire state to be on the Central time zone to make it safer for school children during the dark winter months.

According to recent news, a Republican member of Utah’s House of Representatives, Kenneth Sumsion, introduced a bill, HB288, which calls for people to choose either Mountain Daylight Time ( MDT) or Mountain Standard Time ( MST) all year long. However, the bill failed to make it out of the House Government Operations committee on Tuesday, February 15, 2010. HB288 was defeated on a 6-3 vote.

Moreover, there is a push for a time zone change in Stark County in North Dakota, with the hope of moving the county’s time one hour ahead from the Mountain time zone to the Central time zone. A petition about the proposed time zone change has been circulated to get the matter on the June primary ballot.

Areas in Canada with No DST

There are a few exceptions to daylight saving time in Canada:

• Some areas of Québec, east of 63° west longitude, remain on Atlantic Standard Time ( AST) all year round.
• Most of Saskatchewan uses Central Standard Time ( CST) all year round.
• Southampton Island remains on Eastern Standard Time ( EST) all year long

By remaining on CST throughout the year, most of Saskatchewan is on one uniform time all year round. It shares the time observed by Alberta during the summer ( MDT) and observes the same time zone as Manitoba ( CST) in the winter.

Note: Any reference to summer or winter in this article relates to summer and winter in the northern hemisphere. Also, 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.