When do we go backwards? –NBC Chicago

You may have noticed: the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. And soon, Illinois’ clocks will be turned back.

As the 2023 time change in Illinois approaches and Daylight Saving Time comes to an end, here’s what you need to know about “fallback.”

When do we change our hours?

Under federal law, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and continues until the first Sunday in November in most of the United States.

This year, that date falls on November 5, with the clocks moving back one hour at 2 a.m. that morning.

Even before then, Chicago will experience its first sunset before 7 p.m., according to Time and Date. By September 23, the city will receive less than 12 hours of sunlight per day.

What is daylight saving time?

Daylight saving time is a clock change that typically begins in the spring and ends in the fall in what is often called “spring forward” and “roll back.”

Under the terms of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

On these days, the clocks go forward or back an hour.

But it wasn’t always this way.

The clocks used to go forward on the first Sunday in April and remained so until the last Sunday in October, but a change was implemented in part to allow children to trick-or-treat more in broad daylight.

In the United States, Daylight Saving Time lasts a total of 34 weeks, lasting from early to mid-March until early November in states that observe it.

Some people like to credit Benjamin Franklin as the inventor of daylight saving time when he wrote in a 1784 essay about candle conservation and said, “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy , rich and wise. But this was more of a satire than a serious consideration.

Germany was the first to adopt daylight saving time on May 1, 1916, during World War I, to save fuel. The rest of Europe followed soon after.

The United States did not adopt daylight saving time until March 19, 1918. It was unpopular and abolished after World War I.

On February 9, 1942, Franklin Roosevelt established year-round daylight saving time, which he called “wartime.” This lasted until September 30, 1945.

Daylight saving time did not become the norm in the United States until the passage of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which mandated standard time nationwide in established time zones. It specified that the clocks would go forward one hour at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in April and go back one hour at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October.

States could still opt out of DST, as long as the entire state did so. In the 1970s, due to the 1973 oil embargo, Congress enacted a year-round trial period of daylight saving time, from January 1974 to April 1975, in order to conserve energy .

When will daylight saving time resume?

In 2024, daylight saving time will take an extra day to return thanks to leap years, and will resume on March 10, with the clocks moving forward.

Which states observe daylight saving time?

Almost all U.S. states observe DST, except Arizona (although some Native American tribes observe DST in their territories) and Hawaii. U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, do not observe daylight saving time.

When does fall 2023 start?

Although the meteorological fall began on September 1, the autumnal equinox – or astronomical fall – is September 23.

“The autumnal equinox is an astronomical event that marks the beginning of fall (or “fall”),” says an article in the Old Farmers Almanac. “In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumnal equinox occurs in September; in the Southern Hemisphere, it occurs in March.”

“After the autumnal equinox, the days become shorter than the nights as the sun continues to rise later and night falls earlier,” the message continues. “It ends with the winter solstice, after which the days begin to lengthen again.”

When will the leaves change color?

According to the National Weather Service, some trees in central Illinois begin to change color in late September, with color peaking between mid-October and early November.

However, the “peak fall foliage” can be shortened due to year-round drought conditions because drier leaves fall from trees faster than those with a certain moisture content.

Although the duration depends on the region, peak fall foliage typically lasts between two and four weeks. That weather could be cut in half this year due to dry conditions, the NBC 5 Storm team said.

For those planning a trip to see fall colors, moving the travel timeline forward might be your best bet for experiencing the season’s finest natural beauty.