ObservanceSunday, November 7, 2027
Daylight Saving Time Ends
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Daylight Saving Time ends on the first Sunday in November, when clocks across most of the United States are set back one hour at 2:00 a.m. daylight time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. standard time. The schedule is federal law rather than custom: the dates have been fixed in the U.S. Code since 1966 and have taken their present form since 2007. Hawaii and most of Arizona never moved their clocks forward in March, so they have nothing to set back.
History
The first federal daylight saving law in the United States was the Standard Time Act, signed March 19, 1918 under the title "An Act to Save daylight and to provide standard time for the United States." It set clocks forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October, both at two o'clock in the morning. The idea was contentious at the time, and Congress repealed the daylight saving half the following year, on August 20, 1919, over President Wilson's veto. The time zones the same act created stayed in law.
Daylight time returned nationally for the Second World War and was observed without a break from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. For the next 21 years there was no federal law requiring it, and whether clocks moved was a local question. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized the dates again, running daylight time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, while allowing any state to exempt itself entirely.
The end of daylight time stayed on the last Sunday in October for most of a century. It moved only with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which pushed the end to the first Sunday in November beginning in 2007.
Timeline
- 1918 — The Standard Time Act, signed March 19, establishes U.S. time zones and the country's first daylight saving time, ending on the last Sunday in October.
- 1919 — Congress repeals the daylight saving provision on August 20, over President Wilson's veto. The time zones remain.
- 1942–1945 — Daylight time is observed nationally and without interruption from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945.
- 1966 — The Uniform Time Act sets a uniform national schedule ending on the last Sunday in October, and allows any state to exempt itself.
- 1974–1975 — Under the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973, passed amid severe energy shortages, daylight time begins on January 6, 1974 and February 23, 1975 before the regular schedule returns.
- 2005 — The Energy Policy Act moves the end of daylight time to the first Sunday in November, effective in 2007.
How to observe
The useful thing to do is deal with the clocks that will not deal with themselves. Phones, computers and most connected thermostats change on their own; ovens, microwaves, cars, wall clocks and a good number of alarm clocks do not, and a forgotten one stays wrong for the next four months.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has tied the clock change to home safety since at least 1993, with a campaign built around the line "Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery" — the date as the annual reminder to put fresh batteries in your smoke alarms. It works precisely because it is hard to forget.
It is also worth noticing what actually happens to the hour. Clocks go back at 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., so the hour between one and two occurs twice. Any timestamp recorded in local time during that hour is ambiguous, which is why logs, schedules and billing systems are written in standard or universal time instead.
Frequently asked questions
When does Daylight Saving Time end in 2026?
Sunday, November 1, 2026. Clocks go back one hour at 2:00 a.m. daylight time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. standard time.
Which states do not change their clocks?
Hawaii and most of Arizona stay on standard time all year, so they have no change to make. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 is what gives a state the right to exempt itself.
Is it "daylight saving" or "daylight savings"?
The law says saving, singular: the Uniform Time Act of 1966 and its codification at 15 U.S.C. 260a. "Daylight savings" is common in speech and even turns up in the official title of a 2025 House bill, but it is not the name in the statute.
Will the clock changes ever stop?
Bills to make daylight saving time permanent have been introduced repeatedly and none has become law. The Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 passed the Senate by unanimous consent on March 15, 2022, was received in the House the next day and was held at the desk without a vote. In the current Congress the House passed H.R. 139 by 308 to 117 on July 14, 2026 and the Senate referred it to the Commerce Committee the following day; its official record as of September 8, 2026 shows no Senate action since.
Why 2:00 a.m.?
That has been the changeover hour in U.S. law since the beginning: the 1918 act set it at two o'clock in the morning, and 49 CFR 71.2 still puts both transitions at 2 a.m. The Naval Observatory spells out the arithmetic — back one hour at 2:00 a.m. daylight time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. standard time.
When is Daylight Saving Time Ends?
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | November 7 | Sunday |
| 2028 | November 5 | Sunday |
| 2029 | November 4 | Sunday |
| 2030 | November 3 | Sunday |
| 2031 | November 2 | Sunday |
Sources
- U.S. Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department, Daylight Saving Time — https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/daylight_time → Standard Time Act of March 19, 1918 established DST; DST repealed 1919 with the time zones retained; continuous national DST from 9 February 1942 to 30 September 1945; DST became a local matter after the war; Uniform Time Act of 1966 dates (last Sunday in April to last Sunday in October) and local exemptions; DST start dates of 6 January 1974 and 23 February 1975; Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58) moving DST to the second Sunday in March through the first Sunday in November beginning 2007; the 2:00 a.m. clock readings in both directions; Hawaii and most of Arizona observe standard time only; codification in 15 U.S.C. ch. 6 subch. IX.
- Library of Congress, In Custodia Legis, Spring forward, fall back — it's daylight saving time (Margaret Wood, March 6, 2014) — https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2014/03/spring-forward-fall-back-its-daylight-saving-time/ → the full title of the 1918 act ("An Act to Save daylight and to provide standard time for the United States," 40 Stat. 450) and its last-Sunday-in-March to last-Sunday-in-October rule at 2 a.m.; repeal on August 20, 1919 over President Wilson's veto (41 Stat. 281); the 21-year gap with no federal DST legislation; the Uniform Time Act of 1966 as Pub. L. 89-387, its dates and the state exemption; the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973 (Pub. L. 93-182) and the January 6, 1974 start; the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extending DST through the first Sunday in November.
- Legal Information Institute, 49 CFR 71.2, Annual advancement of standard time — https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/71.2 → the current regulation advancing standard time one hour beginning at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and ending at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November; the Uniform Time Act citation at 15 U.S.C. 260a; the state exemption and the partial exemption for states spanning two time zones.
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, news release, CPSC And Pete Remind You To Change Your Clock - Change Your Battery (1993) — https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/1993/CPSC-And-Pete-Remind-You-To-Change-Your-Clock-Change-Your-Battery → the federal campaign tying smoke-alarm battery replacement to the clock change, in place since at least 1993.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, govinfo, Bill Status XML for S. 623, 117th Congress (Sunshine Protection Act of 2021) — https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/117/s/BILLSTATUS-117s623.xml → introduced March 9, 2021 by Sen. Marco Rubio; committee discharged by unanimous consent and passed the Senate with an amendment by unanimous consent on March 15, 2022; received in the House and held at the desk on March 16, 2022; no House vote in the action history.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, govinfo, Bill Status XML for H.R. 139, 119th Congress (Sunshine Protection Act of 2025) — https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/hr/BILLSTATUS-119hr139.xml → official title "To make daylight savings time permanent, and for other purposes"; introduced January 3, 2025 by Rep. Vern Buchanan; passed the House 308-117 on July 14, 2026 (Roll no. 238); received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on July 15, 2026; no later action in a record whose update date is September 8, 2026.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office, govinfo, Bill Status XML for S. 29, 119th Congress (Sunshine Protection Act of 2025) — https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/s/BILLSTATUS-119s29.xml → introduced January 7, 2025 by Sen. Rick Scott and referred to Senate Commerce the same day, with no further action in a record whose update date is September 8, 2026.
Note on currency: the bill-status records carry an update date of September 8, 2026, so they establish that no Senate vote had happened by that date, not that none has happened since.
Rejected as sources: nationaltoday, nationaldaycalendar, checkiday, timeanddate, and content-farm or AI-generated listicles. Congress.gov refuses automated retrieval, so the bill histories here come from the Government Publishing Office's own Bill Status XML instead.
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