Don’t forget to Fall Back, Daylight Saving ends Sunday, Nov. 3

Published 11:45 am Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Good news — you’ll get an extra hour of sleep this weekend when Daylight Saving Time comes to an end on Sunday.

Daylight Saving Time officially ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, whenclocks fall back one hour.

America spends about 65 percent of the year in Daylight Saving Time, starting the second Sunday each March through the first Sunday in November.

The practice of setting clocks back an hour in the spring and summer dates back to the 1890s, but wasn’t formally adopted in Oregon until 1962, when voters approved Measure 6, the Oregon Daylight Saving Time Act.

The law mandated Daylight Saving Time across the Pacific Time Zone, which covers nearly every Oregon resident — except for sparsely-populated Malheur County, who live in the Mountain Time Zone because of their proximity to Boise, Idaho.

But the decision has proved increasingly unpopular in the United States. A study in 2014 by Rasmussen Reports concluded that only one in three Americans think that Daylight Saving Time is worth the hassle.

That number is even lower in the Pacific Northwest, where only 21 percent of residents think the tradition is worth keeping around, according to a poll by Pemco Insurance Northwest.

Proponents of Daylight Saving argue the residents prefer more daylight at the end of the workday, and have said the time change decreases energy consumption, though the actual effect on energy use is disputed. Proponents have said Daylight Saving is good for people’s mental health, as it encourages people to be more active, and is good for businesses.

Opponents say that Daylight Saving can be detrimental. Research in 2014 showed a 25 percent jump in heart attacks on the Monday following Spring Forward, compared to other Mondays during the year. The time change has also been linked to increased risk of car crashes due to groggy drivers at the wheel.

Efforts have been underway to remove Daylight Saving Time at the state and federal level. In March, the Oregon state Senate considered a plan to stop Oregon from practicing Daylight Saving, but it died in the Oregon House of Representatives.

Not everyone observes Daylight Saving Time. Arizona and Hawaii don’t participate, nor do Puerto Rico, American Samoa or the Virgin Islands.