Daylight Saving Time 2023: When do the clocks fall back?
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — With the arrival of September, many minds turn to cooler weather, fall activities and shorter days.
In fact, the sun began setting before 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1, for the first time since early April.
And right along with those things comes the inevitable end of Daylight Saving Time 2023. You’ll want to mark your calendar, so you don’t forget to plan around the time change when we “fall back,’’ out of it.
We still have a few weeks before we have to change the clocks back, but it’ll be here before you know it, and it starts early in the day. Daylight Saving Time will end on Sunday, Nov. 5, at 2 a.m.
Many of us will get an extra hour of sleep that weekend, and we’ll see a bit more light in the morning.
The sun will set in New York City at 5:49 p.m. on Nov. 4. The following day — after Daylight Saving time concludes — sunset is more than an hour earlier at 4:47 p.m. The amount of daylight will continue to shorten each day until Dec. 21, when the winter solstice arrives, according to Space.com. Then, the length of days will begin to increase until the summer solstice on June 20, 2024.
On the flip side, the sun will rise approximately one hour earlier each morning. On Nov. 4, sunrise is 7:29 a.m. The next day the sun comes up at 6:30 a.m.
So, though you may travel home from work or school in darkness in November, your morning commute may include more daylight.
The system of uniform Daylight Saving Time throughout the United States was established by the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Yet, some exceptions do exist, including Arizona, Hawaii and some overseas territories, such as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the practice was first introduced in the United States by Benjamin Franklin’s light-hearted “An Economical Project,” written in 1784.
“It was whimsical in tone, advocating laws to compel citizens to rise at the crack of dawn to save the expense of candlelight,” the website stated.
Can’t remember which way to turn the clocks? There’s a cute expression for that: “spring forward, fall back.”
In the spring, the clock “springs forward” and we lose an hour. But in the fall, the clock “falls back” and we gain and hour.
Many choose to change the clocks in their home before they go to bed Saturday, so the devices are correct when they wake up. However, many clocks — including those on portable phones and laptops — will do the work for you.
Next year, Daylight Saving Time 2024 begins on Sunday, March 10, at 2 a.m. and ends on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 2 a.m.
