PITTSBURGH, PA — People will see lighter early evenings in most of the nation as time moves ahead an hour with the beginning of daylight saving time on Sunday.
What does that mean for Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania?
It means sunset will occur at 7:19 p.m. on Sunday. Sunset will come 1 to 3 minutes later each day, with the fastest gains around the vernal equinox on March 20, until about a week after the summer solstice on June 21, due to the Equation of Time (the difference between clock time and solar time) and Earth’s tilt. That puts the latest sunset between June 25-28. This year, it occurs on June 27.
Sunrise comes later, too. On March 9, the first day of the school and work week, the sun will come up at about 7:41 a.m. in the Pittsburgh area.
The “lock the clock” debate that gave hope to fans of year-round daylight saving time faded quickly. The Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, but it has since been stalled by disagreements over whether to adopt daylight saving or standard time as the year-round permanent time.
Eighteen states have enacted legislation mandating daylight saving time year-round. Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands operate on year-round standard time. Pennsylvania is one of the remaining states that employ both.