Alaska is officially covered by two time zones - the Alaska Time Zone and the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone. The Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone is used for the Aleutian Islands west of 169°30′W (Islands of Four Mountains, Andreanof Islands, Rat Islands and Near Islands),[1] and the rest of the state uses the Alaska Time Zone.[2] The entirety of Alaska observes daylight saving time.

The town of Hyder, because it essentially is a single town split by the border between the United States and Canada, unofficially observes Pacific Time including DST (UTC−08:00, DST UTC−07:00) like its neighbor Stewart, British Columbia, with the exception of the U.S. Post Office (because it is a federal facility).[3][4][5]

History

As part of Russian America, Alaska used the Julian calendar and the same day of the week as Asia. In 1867, Alaska became a United States territory (through the Alaska Purchase) and began using the Gregorian calendar and the same day of the week as the Americas. The switch was achieved by repeating the same day of the week and skipping eleven days of the month, so that the purchase date of Friday, October 6 (Julian) was followed once again by Friday, October 18 (instead of Saturday, October 19 in Gregorian).[6]

Before time zones were introduced, every place used local observation of the sun to set its clocks, which meant that every location used a different local mean time based on its longitude. For example, Sitka, the capital of Alaska at the time, at longitude 135°20′W, had a local time equivalent to UTC+14:59 under Russia and UTC−09:01 under the United States.[7]

In 1900, "Alaska Standard Time" was established within the state as UTC−09:00.[8]

In 1918, the United States Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which defined a standard time zone for Alaska - United States Standard Alaska Time, set at UTC−10:00.[9]

On January 20, 1942, all of the United States, including Alaska, began to observe War Time.[10] Standard time in the United States advanced by one hour and would remain so until September 25, 1945, when the act was repealed.[11]

In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act. The Uniform Time Act introduced Daylight Saving Time uniformly in the United States, which Alaska would begin observing on April 28, 1968.[12][13] The Uniform Time Act also defined four time zones that Alaska would use:[14]

In April 1983, the Alaska Legislature approved a resolution asking the Department of Transportation to switch Alaska to use only two time zones.[19] It was approved by Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole on September 15, 1983, and took effect on October 30, 1983.[20][21] Areas east of Unalaska began using the Yukon Time Zone (UTC−09:00). Most of the Aleutian Islands, previously on Bering Time, were now using Alaska-Hawaii Time.[22] As an act of Congress was required to change the name of the time zones,[23] the time zones did not gain their modern names (Alaska Time and Hawaii-Aleutian Time) until November 30, 1984.[24]

Historic alterations

Period in use Time offset from UTC Name of time
Wednesday, July 15, 1741 – Friday, October 6, 1867 (Julian Calendar) UTC+14:59 (in Sitka) Local Mean Time
UTC+12:24 (in Aleutian Islands)
Friday, October 18, 1867 – 1900 (Gregorian Calendar) UTC−09:01 (in Sitka) Local Mean Time
UTC−11:36 (in Aleutian Islands)
1900 – 1918 UTC−09:00 (including Aleutian Islands) Alaska Standard Time
1918 – March 31, 1967 UTC−08:00 (Panhandle Areas) Pacific Standard Time
UTC−09:00 (in Yakutat) Yukon Standard Time
UTC−10:00 Alaska Standard Time
UTC−11:00 (Nome, and Aleutian Islands) Bering Standard Time
April 1, 1967 – 1983 UTC−08:00 (Panhandle Areas) Pacific Standard Time
UTC−09:00 (in Yakutat) Yukon Standard Time
UTC−10:00 Alaska–Hawaii Standard Time
UTC−11:00 (Nome, and Aleutian Islands) Bering Standard Time
1983 – Present UTC−09:00 (in Juneau) Alaska Time Zone
UTC−10:00 (in Aleutian Islands) Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone
2007 − Present UTC−08:00 (except in Aleutian Islands) Alaska Daylight Time

tz database

The tz database version 2023d contains seven time zones for Alaska for historical reasons. Only three (America/Adak, America/Anchorage, and America/Metlakatla) are currently in use.

CC Coordinates TZ Comments UTC offset UTC offset DST Notes
US +611305−1495401 America/Anchorage Alaska (most areas) −09:00 −08:00
US +581807−1342511 America/Juneau Alaska - Juneau area −09:00 −08:00
US +571035−1351807 America/Sitka Alaska - Sitka area −09:00 −08:00
US +593249−1394338 America/Yakutat Alaska - Yakutat −09:00 −08:00
US +643004−1652423 America/Nome Alaska (west) −09:00 −08:00
US +515248−1763929 America/Adak Alaska - western Aleutians −10:00 −09:00
US +550737−1313435 America/Metlakatla Alaska - Annette Island −09:00 −08:00

References

  1. ↑ "eCFR :: 49 CFR 71.12 - - Hawaii-Aleutian zone". Code of Federal Regulations. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  2. ↑ "eCFR :: 49 CFR 71.11 - - Alaska zone". Code of Federal Regulations. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  3. ↑ "Exceptions, Oddities and Notes". OnTimeZone.com. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  4. ↑ Bohrer, Becky (2021-04-26). "Dunleavy shares COVID vaccine with Canadian town". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  5. ↑ Levin, Dan (2016-07-04). "In Hyder, roaming grizzlies, no police and large doses of Canada". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  6. ↑ Dershowitz, Nachum; Reingold, Edward M. (2008). Calendrical Calculations. Cambridge University Press. p. 47. ISBN 9780521885409.
  7. ↑ Time Zone in Sitka, Alaska, USA, Timeanddate.com.
  8. ↑ "Keeping Time in Alaska: National Directives, Local Response | Alaska Historical Society". Alaska Historical Society. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  9. ↑ Standard Time Act of 1918. 40 Stat. 450
  10. ↑ AN ACT To promote the national security and defense by establishing daylight saving time. 56 Stat. 9
  11. ↑ AN ACT To provide for termination of daylight saving time. 59 Stat. 537
  12. 1 2 Time Zone in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, Timeanddate.com.
  13. ↑ "Daylight Savings Time Comes To Alaska Soon". The Daily Sitka Sentinel. 1968-04-22. Alaskans will advance their clocks one hour next Sunday as the state for the first time observes Daylight Savings Time.
  14. ↑ Uniform Time Act of 1966. Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 89–387, 80 Stat. 107, enacted April 13, 1966
  15. ↑ Time Zone in Nome, Alaska, USA, Timeanddate.com.
  16. ↑ Time Zone in Adak, Alaska, USA, Timeanddate.com.
  17. ↑ Time Zone in Yakutat, Alaska, USA, Timeanddate.com.
  18. ↑ Time Zone in Juneau, Alaska, USA, Timeanddate.com.
  19. ↑ "Alaska Asks for Reduction Of Time Zones". The Daily Sitka Sentinel. Associated Press. 1983-04-20.
  20. ↑ Spencer, Hal (1983-09-16). "Most of Alaska to Switch to a Common Time Zone". The Daily Sitka Sentinel.
  21. ↑ "AROUND THE NATION; Most of Alaska to Go Under One Time Zone". The New York Times. 1983-09-18. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  22. ↑ Wallace Turner (1983-11-01). "Alaska's four time zones now two". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-09-21. The big change was in Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka, the major towns in southeast Alaska, where clocks shifted back two hours to Yukon time. After decades on Pacific time, this region will now be an hour earlier, as will Anchorage and Fairbanks, which formerly were two hours earlier than Pacific time.
  23. ↑ Hal Spencer (1983-09-16). "Most of Alaska to Switch to a Common Time Zone". The Daily Sitka Sentinel.
  24. ↑ Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1984. Section 2003. 97 Stat. 1153
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