Pennsylvania will soon spring forward & lose sleep. When does daylight saving time start?
If you’re ready for more sunlight, you won’t have to wait much longer. Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9, when Pennsylvania residents “spring forward” and move their clocks ahead one hour.
Spring officially begins Thursday, March 20, but central Pennsylvania has not seen the last of the winter weather.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the State College area beginning at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5 and running through noon Thursday, Feb. 6. Average high temperatures typically start exceeding 50 degrees Fahrenheit in State College by April.
But will Pennsylvania put an end to the tradition of changing clocks twice a year? Here’s what to know.
Daylight saving time legislation in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania legislature introduced a bill in 2023 that would establish year-round daylight saving time in the commonwealth if approved by the U.S. Congress. The legislation, House Bill 272, was referred to the state government committee in March 2023, but never moved.
Some efforts against clock-changing have taken a different approach, however, such as Senate Bill 384, which would have eliminated the use of daylight saving time in Pennsylvania. That bill was “laid on the table” in January 2022 and died.
These attempts were far from the only efforts to end clock-changing, and the U.S. Senate has signed off on similar legislation for the nation. So far, Hawaii and Arizona are the only states in the country that don’t observe daylight saving time, and the Navajo Nation portion of Arizona does practice daylight saving.
The history of daylight saving
Daylight saving time was made a legal requirement by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
State governments cannot independently change time zones or the length of daylight saving time, the department reports, but they can exempt themselves from the practice.
“States do not have the authority to choose to be on permanent Daylight Saving Time,” the U.S. Department of Transportation website reads.
This year’s daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.
Sunrise and sunset times in State College
State College sunsets have been happening later in the day since mid-December, just before the Dec. 21, 2024, winter solstice.
Here’s how sunrise and sunset times will change in State College in the coming months, according to global online clock Time and Date:
Saturday, Feb. 15: 7:05 a.m. sunrise, 5:46 p.m. sunset
Sunday, March 9 (beginning of daylight saving time): 7:32 a.m. sunrise, 7:11 p.m. sunset
Monday, March 31: 6:56 a.m. sunrise, 7:35 p.m. sunset
Tuesday, April 15: 6:32 a.m. sunrise, 7:51 p.m. sunset
Wednesday, April 30: 6:10 a.m. sunrise, 8:07 p.m. sunset
