And then there’s wishy-washy Arizona, which splits the year between Mountain and Pacific thanks to its refusal to participate in daylight saving time.
For the past two years, a lawmaker in Boise has sought to wrench Idaho’s panhandle away from Pacific time, while El Paso fought the State of Texas for decades to avoid being enveloped by Central time. That so few Americans call the Mountain West home is ample explanation for its low profile, and the reason its time zone is both constantly threatened and oddly sought after.
There are only three cities large enough to sustain major-league sports teams here, and one of them is in Utah. Though it covers roughly a quarter of the continental United States, the Mountain time zone contains less than 7 percent of the country’s population.
#Arizona time zone free
Returning to Mountain time doesn’t just mean turning my watch back: It means calving myself free of the schedules that set the nation’s agenda it means a more humane relationship to the passing of the hours. What I’m really longing for is the more ambiguous perspective that arriving there imparts. My nostalgia, though, goes deeper than mere sense memory. All of that is especially true now: With most travel put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, endless afternoons rattling around my apartment near Boston have left my mind with little to do but wander. Even thinking about the quirky floor of the airport, a patterning of buff and pink bricks, makes me a little moony. The subtle lightness the air takes on at a mile of elevation. The brilliant warmth of the sun, of course, as well as a growing anticipation for that first pungent bite of green chile after months of enduring the Northeast’s ghastly jalapeños. ( NewsBank online resource.)ĭaylight Saving Time, opens a new window | National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), opens a new windowįind the information you need by calling the library's Infoline at 52 or by sending your question to Ask a Librarian.When I come home to Albuquerque, there are a few sensations I consistently delight in. " Daylight Saving Time 2011: What About Arizona?, opens a new window" Phoenix Examiner. “Most of US resets time-not Arizonans." Arizona Daily Star. "Tucson Ready for Time Change." Arizona Daily Star. In addition to Arizona, Hawaii and some U.S. Navajo Nation in northern Arizona does observe Daylight Saving Time. Why does most of Arizona reject Daylight Saving Time? One possible reason was explained by the now former chief meteorologist for KVOA-TV 4, Jimmy Stewart, ".the reason I hear most often is simply that we don't need another hour of sunlight in the heat of the summer." Exceptions and Other Locations that Opt Out of Daylight Saving Time page A1.) Another good source of information is an article on the history of Arizona's rejection of Daylight Saving Time in "How Ticked-Off Arizona Got Rid of Daylight Saving," Arizona Daily Star, Maon page 1. Arizona was exempted from the time change during the energy crisis in the winter of 1973-1974.įor the history of how Arizona decided not to participate in Daylight Saving Time, see the Tucson Citizen article "Arizona Long Ago Decided It Has Lots of Daylight, Thanks." (April 26, 1968. Daylight Saving Time was rejected by the Arizona legislature in 1968.
HistoryĪrizona, including Tucson, went on Daylight Saving Time on April 30,1967 for the first time since World War II. When Daylight Saving Time takes effect for the rest of the country in the spring, most of the state of Arizona does not set clocks ahead.Īrizona State Library, Archives & Public Records provides additional information. The state of Arizona is on Mountain Standard Time but, with the exception of the Navajo Nation, does not observe Daylight Saving Time. Although often referred to as Daylight Savings Time (with an 's' on Saving) the true designation is Daylight Saving Time (DST).