Daylight Saving Time Starts March 14, 2027: The Missing Hour, Who Skips It, and 2027's End Date
Note: Some future links on this site may be affiliate links. We never claim hands-on testing; guides are researched from the public sources listed in each article.
How we wrote this: A summary of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) daylight saving time rules page and the U.S. Department of Transportation's daylight saving time page (linked below), checked October 29, 2026. The 2027 dates are worked out from the rule NIST describes; NIST's page currently lists 2026 dates.
The "fall back" change on November 1, 2026 is covered in our guide to the end of daylight saving time. This guide is about the other half: springing forward in March 2027, which takes an hour away instead of giving one back.
The 2027 dates
NIST describes the current U.S. rule: daylight saving time begins at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and ends at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November. Applied to 2027:
| Date | What happens at 2:00 a.m. local time | |
|---|---|---|
| DST starts | Sunday, March 14, 2027 | Clocks jump to 3:00 a.m. |
| DST ends | Sunday, November 7, 2027 | Clocks go back to 1:00 a.m. |
NIST notes that DST now lasts 238 days, about 65% of the year, under rules set by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that took effect in 2007.
The hour that doesn't exist
In NIST's words, at 2 a.m. "the local time time skips ahead to 3 a.m. so there is one less hour in that day." On March 14, 2027, local times from 2:00 to 2:59 a.m. never happen in places that observe DST.
That has a few practical effects:
- Scheduled tasks. Anything set for 2:30 a.m. local time (backups, updates, reports, automatic orders) may run at a different time or be skipped, depending on how the software handles a time that doesn't exist. Check the documentation for anything important, or schedule it outside 2-3 a.m. Our 3-2-1 backup guide is a good place to review backup timing.
- The day is 23 hours long. Hourly pay, hourly logs, and anything that totals a day's hours will come up one short for that night.
- Timestamps. NIST explains that its time services broadcast Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and your device's operating system applies the local offset. UTC itself doesn't change, which is why logs kept in UTC don't have a gap.
Who doesn't spring forward
Per the Department of Transportation, under the Uniform Time Act, states may exempt themselves from DST by state law, but if a state observes DST, it must begin and end on the federally mandated dates. DOT lists DST as not observed in:
- Hawaii
- most of Arizona (NIST adds that the Navajo Nation does observe it)
- American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
So after March 14, Arizona and Hawaii fall one more hour behind the parts of the country that change. If you work with clients there, double-check meeting times that week.
DOT, not NIST, regulates DST and time zones; NIST says it follows the rules when it distributes the time.
Devices: what NIST recommends checking
- Phones and computers update themselves if the operating system is up to date, because the OS applies the DST rules, not the time signal. NIST stresses keeping system updates current; if you're still on an unsupported system, see our Windows 10 end of support guide.
- Radio-controlled clocks read a DST indicator in NIST's WWVB signal and should change on their own. If one is wrong afterward, NIST suggests checking that it has synced recently and that its time zone is set correctly. In places that don't observe DST, such as most of Arizona, NIST says to turn off the clock's automatic DST setting.
- "Auto-set" clocks without a radio signal have the rules built in. NIST warns that ones made before the 2007 change may switch on the old dates; the fix is to adjust them by hand or contact the maker.
For the official current time, NIST and the U.S. Naval Observatory run time.gov.
What else is happening in March 2027
The March equinox comes a week later; see our 2027 equinoxes and solstices guide. Lighter evenings after the clock change are a good time to plan for spring skywatching, starting with the Lyrids in April.
Quick checklist
- Sunday, March 14, 2027, 2:00 a.m. becomes 3:00 a.m.
- Move anything scheduled between 2 and 3 a.m. that night.
- Remember Arizona (mostly), Hawaii and the territories don't change.
- Keep device software updated; check radio-controlled and auto-set clocks.
- DST ends Sunday, November 7, 2027.