TAMPA, Fla. — The time to soak up the sun is about to get a little shorter in Florida. Plus, some of us may be racing sunsets on the commute home. That's right — we're about to see our last 6 p.m. sunset of 2024.
Why? To put it simply, Daylight Saving Time is to blame. At 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, Florida will turn the clocks back one hour and "fall back." For most of us, that means an extra hour of sleep for the weekend.
The trade-off, however, is that the sky will get darker earlier. However, it does mean sunrises will be earlier, too, at least for the month of November.
According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the last sunset happening after 6 p.m. will take place on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 6:45 p.m. in Tampa. Sunrise that day will be 7:41 a.m.
On Sunday, Nov. 3, sunset will happen at 5:45 p.m. in Tampa. 6:41 a.m. will be Sunday's sunrise. The last pre-7 a.m. sunrise of 2024 will happen on Nov. 27.
Didn't Florida 'lock the clock' already?
Yes, Florida voters agreed they wanted to "lock the clock" years ago. But, federal law has yet to change, meaning the Sunshine State can't decide when to set the clock.
Florida became the first state to pass a resolution to observe daylight saving time year-round, passing the legislation in 2018. If Congress repeals the Uniform Time Act of 1966, it would go into effect immediately.
When does daylight saving time end?
Daylight saving time in 2024 ends on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 a.m.
Why was daylight saving time started?
The practice has been implemented in some form since World War I when Germany originally introduced it to conserve power and energy by extending daylight hours.
The Standard Time Act in 1918 was the first introduction of daylight saving time to American clocks. The temporary measure, which once held the nickname "war time," lasted from spring to fall and was intended to cut energy costs during World War I. The act is also responsible for the five time zones still in place today.
The Department of Transportation was created and given regulatory power over time zones and daylight saving time in 1966. In order to correct confusing and alternating time zones, the Uniform Time Act of 1966 sought a nationwide standard for daylight saving time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.
Few changes have happened since then. Most recently, daylight saving time was extended by a few weeks in 2005 when former President George Bush changed the law. It is now observed from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November.
Despite the national observance, Arizona and Hawaii don't observe daylight saving time. Under federal law, states are allowed to opt out of daylight saving time and remain on standard time, but are not allowed to remain on daylight time.
The U.S. has previously implemented daylight saving time year-round twice, once in World War II for fuel conservation and once in 1974 as "trial run" during an energy crisis.
TEGNA Digital contributed to this report.
