When do the clocks go back? Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Nov. 1 this year, and manual clocks should be turned back an hour before going to bed on Halloween night.
The overnight switch matters for anyone setting alarms, travel plans, or early starts the next morning. People using manual clocks need to make the change themselves; devices that adjust automatically will do it without help.
Nov. 1 in the Eastern Time Zone
The change happens at 2 a.m., the point when the clock moves from daylight saving time back to standard time. In the Eastern Time Zone, that is the moment after Halloween night ends and Nov. 1 begins.
For readers in New England, the shift arrives with the usual seasonal tradeoff. In early December, sunset is around 4:11 p.m. and sunrise comes just after 7 a.m., which is why the yearly change keeps drawing attention even though it is routine.
Uniform Time Act in 1966
The United States adopted daylight saving time nationally in 1918, after Port Arthur, Ontario became the first city in the world to turn its clocks forward an hour in the summer of 1908. The U.S. version was repealed a year later, then returned during World War II as war time before Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966.
Congress later tried a trial run of year-round daylight saving time during the 1973 oil embargo, but that was reversed after people started waking up to dark winter mornings. The present system remains a twice-yearly change, with one hour added in spring and taken back in fall.
Daylight saving time debate
The long-running debate over ending daylight saving time or making it permanent has not changed the calendar this year. For now, the practical step is simple: turn manual clocks back an hour before bed on Halloween night, so the switch is already done when 2 a.m. arrives.
That leaves the broader question open for lawmakers, but not for this weekend. The clocks still go back once, at 2 a.m. on Nov. 1.
