Set those clocks back this weekend—What you need to know about the end of Daylight Savings

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I have a lot of clocks to reset. (Caleb Turrentine / The Bama Buzz)

This weekend marks the end of Daylight Savings Time—a topic that brings out some passionate opinions from both sides of the argument.

Everyone likes getting an extra hour of sleep Saturday night but that feeling can disappear quickly when you see how dark it is at 5PM Sunday.

But no matter where you fall in the debate, don’t forget to change your clocks! Your phones and laptops should automatically make the switch but if you’re like me, there’s still some manual clocks you’ll need to change Sunday.

Keep reading to learn more about the time change + the history of Daylight Savings Time.

Fall back

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The railroad in downtown Birmingham. (Nathan Watson / The Bama Buzz)

The biggest change you will see after the time change is when the sun rises and sets. Both will be earlier in the day, which always takes some time to get used to. Here are the exact times for Sunday:

  • Sunrise: 6:08AM
  • Sunset: 4:53PM

If you want to stay up to see the big time change, you may want to take a nap Saturday afternoon. The official end of Daylight Savings Time is Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2AM.

That means you can watch your phone clock go from 1:59AM back to 1AM. It’s just a short trip back in time that you can do something new within that hour. Or you can just stay asleep.

History of Daylight Savings Time

Adjusting the day around the amount of sunlight has likely been going on for centuries, dating back to ancient civilizations. But here in the U.S., Daylight Savings Time as we know was officially put into place by the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

In 2007, a slight shift to Daylight Savings Time was made, extending it to cover around 65 percent of the year.

Daylight saving time in the U.S. starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. Every state except Hawaii and Arizona practices the two annual time changes.

In recent years, Alabama has debated and even voted on staying on Daylight Savings Time throughout the entire year but no official changes has passed.

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Caleb Turrentine
Caleb Turrentine
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