If you’ve ever wondered why, we’ve got you covered.
Why doesn’t Arizona observe daylight saving time?
Arizona doesn’t spring forward or fall back because the climate is so hot and sunny. While daylight saving time theoretically helps to conserve energy in other states, it has the opposite effect in The Grand Canyon State.Before Arizona officially opted out of daylight saving time in 1967, the extra hour of daylight it provided during our summers of extreme heat left residents unhappy. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, Arizonans had to wait an hour longer — sometimes until a 9 p.m. sunset — to enjoy their evening summer activities.
This unhappiness led the state to make a change. Arizona opted out and hasn’t observed it ever since.
What’s the history of daylight saving time in Arizona?
At one point, there were more than 144 local time zones across North America, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. In 1883, major railroad companies began operating under a coordinated system of four time zones to prevent missed train connections and deadly collisions.In 1918, six years after Arizona became a state, the U.S. officially recognized five time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific and Alaska. When the country entered into World War I, it passed the Standard Time Act, which instituted daylight saving time to conserve energy in wartime.
A year later, though, daylight saving time was repealed and became a local matter again, according to the U.S. Navy. Most of Arizona stayed on daylight saving time, but Phoenix and Maricopa County did not want to do so. In 1919, Phoenix was in a different time zone than the rest of the state.
When World War II erupted, so did the need for energy conservation, and daylight saving time was reestablished nationally in the mid-1940s. After the war, adoption varied among the states before it was formalized again in the Uniform Time Act of 1966.
The act allowed for local exemptions, and Arizona opted out in 1967. The change was made permanent in 1968, according to the Arizona State Digital Library, and the state spent all of every year since on Mountain Standard Time.
Are there any exceptions in Arizona?
Yes! The Navajo Nation, which spans northeastern Arizona and parts of New Mexico and Utah, does observe daylight saving time. But the Nation surrounds the Hopi Reservation, which like the rest of Arizona does not follow it.Does anywhere else in the U.S. not observe daylight saving time?
Only two states, Arizona and Hawaii, don’t follow daylight saving time. Hawaii also opted out in 1967.U.S. territories Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands also don’t follow the practice.
