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Daylight Saving Time: When Do We Change Our Clocks?

Abhijit Naik
Confused as to when you should change the clocks in accordance to the Daylight Saving Time concept? There are many people out there who have a tough time trying to figure out the same. If you happen to be one of them, here is some information which will help you clear your confusion.

Daylight Saving Time for 2020

Turn the clock ahead at 02:00 AM on March 8
Revert the clock at 02:00 AM on November 1
With the concept of Daylight Saving Time (DST) spreading beyond North America and Europe, knowing when to change the clocks has become all the more important.
Basically, Daylight Saving Time change is a practice wherein the clocks are turned ahead or reverted back by an hour during a specific time of the year in a bid to make sure that the afternoons, which are considered more productive than the other times of the day, are longer.
Though all the countries which practice DST change turn their clocks ahead and revert them back by an hour in a calendar year, the dates on which the clocks are changed in the United States (and other regions of North America) differ from the dates followed in Europe.

Daylight Saving Time

The 'specific time' of the year when you turn the clocks ahead by an hour, is the second Sunday of March. Similarly, on the first Sunday of November, you are supposed to revert them by an hour, as it marks the end of the Daylight Saving Time. The practice of changing time on these dates was adopted in 2007. Prior to this, the clocks were changed on the first Sunday of April and October respectively.

Turn the Clocks Ahead

If you take into consideration the fact that the second Sunday of March marks the beginning of DST, March 8, 2020 is the day wherein you are supposed to turn your clocks ahead by an hour. (As the clocks are moved ahead by an hour on this day of spring, it is also known as 'spring forward'.)
At 02:00 AM on the second Sunday of March, you simply have to turn your clocks to 03:00 AM to stick to the schedule followed by the entire nation from that day until the end of DST.

Turn the Clocks Back

The first Sunday of November marks the end of Daylight Saving Time and thus, you are supposed to revert your clocks back by an hour. That being said, November 1, 2020, is the day on which you will have to revert your clocks by an hour from 02:00 AM to 01:00 AM. As the clocks are reverted by an hour on this day of fall, it is also known as 'fall back'.
From the first Sunday of November, you follow the new time, until the next spring forward.
Year: 2020
Spring Forward: Mar 8
Fall Back: Nov 1

Year: 2021
Spring Forward: Mar 14
Fall Back: Nov 7

Year: 2022
Spring Forward: Mar 13
Fall Back: Nov 6
Year: 2023
Spring Forward: Mar 12
Fall Back: Nov 5

Year: 2024
Spring Forward: Mar 10
Fall Back: Nov 3

Year: 2025
Spring Forward: Mar 9
Fall Back: Nov 2

European Summer Time

If Americans follow the Daylight Saving Time, Europeans follow the European Summer Time, which begins on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. In 2014, for instance, Europeans changed their clocks and put them ahead by an hour on March 30 and reverted them back by an hour on October 26.
Almost all the European nations, with a few exceptions like Russia and Iceland, follow this concept.
The concept is predominantly restricted to North American regions like the United States, Canada, Greenland, etc. Even though it is not mandatory for the American states to follow this practice, they have to abide by the guidelines laid in accordance to the federal law, if(?) at all(?) they choose to follow it.
As of today, only two states(?) Arizona and Hawaii and a few territories have chosen to stick to the Standard Time (ST) instead of going with DST.