What time does daylight saving time end? When is it? When we'll ...

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Daylight saving time: when and why we still 'fall back' for DST

The United States began daylight saving time in 1918, copying efforts by Germany and Britain to save energy during WWI.

Scott L. Hall, USA TODAY

• Clocks will "fall back" an hour, resulting in an extra hour of sleep and brighter mornings.
• While the Sunshine Protection Act to make Daylight Saving Time permanent passed the Senate in 2022, it has not been passed by the House.
• Lawmakers continue to advocate for the act, aiming to end the biannual time change.

It's about to all be over.

No, not Election Day, which is coming later this week. But daylight saving time, the twice-annual time change that impacts millions of Americans.

On Sunday at 2 a.m. local time, the clocks in most, but not all, states will "fall back" by an hour, giving people an extra hour of sleep and allowing for more daylight in the mornings.

The time adjustment affects the daily lives of hundreds of millions of Americans, prompting clock changes, contributing to less sleep in the days following and, of course, earlier sunsets.

Here's what to know about the end of daylight saving time.

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What is daylight saving time?

Daylight saving time is the time between March and November when most Americans adjust their clocks ahead by one hour.

We gain an hour in November (as opposed to losing an hour in the spring) to make for more daylight in the winter mornings. When we "spring forward" in March, it's to add more daylight in the evenings. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox is Sunday, Sept. 22, marking the start of the fall season.

When does daylight saving time end in 2024?

Daylight saving time will end for the year on Sunday, Nov. 3, when we "fall back" and gain an extra hour of sleep.

Next year, it will begin again on Sunday, March 9, 2025.

What exact time does daylight saving time end?

The clocks will "fall back" an hour at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 3.

When did daylight saving time start in 2024?

Daylight saving time began in 2024 on Sunday, March 10, at 2 a.m. local time, when our clocks moved forward an hour, part of the twice-annual time change.

Does every state observe daylight saving time?

Not all states and U.S. territories participate in daylight saving time.

Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time. Because of its desert climate, Arizona doesn't follow daylight saving time (with the exception of the Navajo Nation). After most of the U.S. adopted the Uniform Time Act, the state figured that there wasn't a good reason to adjust clocks to make sunset occur an hour later during the hottest months of the year.

There are also five other U.S. territories that do not participate:

• American Samoa
• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Puerto Rico 
•  U.S. Virgin Islands 

The Navajo Nation, located in parts of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, does follow daylight saving time.

Hawaii is the other state that does not observe daylight saving time. Because of its proximity to the equator, there is not a lot of variance between hours of daylight during the year.

Is daylight saving time ending?

The push to stop changing clocks was put before Congress in the last couple of years, when the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, a bill to make daylight saving time permanent.

Although the Sunshine Protection Act was passed unanimously by the Senate in 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives did not pass it and President Joe Biden did not sign it.

A 2023 version of the act remained idle in Congress, as well.

In a news release Monday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio made another push in support of making daylight saving time permanent.

The senator suggested the nation "stop enduring the ridiculous and antiquated practice of switching our clocks back and forth. Let’s finally pass my Sunshine Protection Act and end the need to ‘fall back’ and ‘spring forward’ for good."

Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY.