
PST is
UTC-8, highlighted in red.
The 'Pacific Time Zone' observes
standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (
UTC-8). The clock time in this zone is based on the
mean solar time of the 120th degree
meridian west of the
Greenwich Observatory. During
daylight saving time, its
time offset is
UTC-7. Coordinated Universal Time is also called Greenwich Mean Time (
GMT).
In the
United States and
Canada, this time zone is generically called 'Pacific Time' (PT). Specifically, it is 'Pacific Standard Time' (PST) when observing standard time (
Winter), and 'Pacific Daylight Time' (PDT) when observing daylight saving time (
Summer).
The zone is one hour ahead of the
Alaska Time Zone, one hour behind the
Mountain Time Zone and three hours behind the
Eastern Time Zone.
In the
United States, the states of
Washington and
California are located entirely within the Pacific Time Zone. Nearly all of
Nevada, except for the towns of
West Wendover and
Jackpot is on Pacific Time. Additionally, the northern part of
Idaho (the
Idaho Panhandle) and all of
Oregon except for the greater part of
Malheur County are also in the zone. The exact specification for the location of
time zones and the dividing line between zones is set forth in the
Code of Federal Regulations at 49 CFR 71.
[1]
In
Canada, it includes almost all of the province of
British Columbia (except for the
Highway 95 corridor and portions around
Fort St. John), all of the
Yukon Territory and
Tungsten,
Northwest Territories.
In
Mexico, the state of
Baja California is wholly within and the only part of Mexico in PST.
Most of the Pacific Time zone observes 'Pacific Daylight Time' ('PDT', '
UTC-7') during the summer months, with the exception of the areas surrounding
Dawson Creek and
Creston in
British Columbia.
Through 2006, the local time (PST, UTC-8) changed to PDT (UTC-7) at 02:00 LST (local standard time) to 03:00 LDT (local daylight time) on the first Sunday in April, and returned at 02:00 LDT to 01:00 LST on the last Sunday in October.
Effective 2007, the local time changes from PST to PDT at 02:00 LST to 03:00 LDT on the second Sunday in March and returns at 02:00 LDT to 01:00 LST on the first Sunday in November, except in Mexico, where the previous dates are still in effect.
Major cities
'Over 1,000,000 residents'
★
Los Angeles, California
★
San Diego, California
★
Tijuana, Baja California
'Over 700,000 residents'
★
San Francisco, California
★
San Jose, California
'Over 400,000 residents'
★
Fresno, California
★
Las Vegas, Nevada
★
Long Beach, California
★
Mexicali, Baja California
★
Oakland, California
★
Portland, Oregon
★
Seattle, Washington
★
Sacramento, California
★
Vancouver, British Columbia
'Over 200,000 residents'
★
Anaheim, California
★
Bakersfield, California
★
Ensenada, Baja California
★
Fremont, California
★
Modesto, California
★
Reno, Nevada
★
Riverside, California
★
Santa Ana, California
★
Spokane, Washington
★
Stockton, California
★
Tacoma, Washington
★
Victoria, British Columbia
References
1. The specification for the Pacific Time Zone is set forth at 49 CFR 71.10, and is listed in Text and pdf formats.
The boundary between Pacific and Mountain is set forth at 49 CFR 71.9, and is listed in text and pdf formats.
Sources
★
World time zone map
★
U.S. time zone map
★
History of U.S. time zones and UTC conversion
★
Canada time zone map
★
Time zones for major world cities
★
The official U.S. time for the Pacific Time Zone
★
Official times across Canada