U.S. Time Zones are weird

[thanxfornoticin]

Nothing is more odd (in my opinion) trying to figure out some of the Indian time zones. I often need to connect with a global IT group, and the time difference is something crazy like 10.5 hours.

And then there's China - one gigantic country with the same time zone. That's easier to remember, but it would be quite odd if the US was in one time zone!

 

[MGMmjl]

We live in east-central Alabama in the Central time zone. But we have family who live in far western Georgia in the Eastern time zone. So, we always have to ask "our time" or "your time" when making plans. All of Alabama is in the Central time zone, except for Phenix City, AL (which borders Columbus, GA). Since Phenix City is tied to Columbus so closely, Phenix City observes Eastern time.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Your biggest change, population-wise, is moving the eastern time zone west to the Mississippi in order to accommodate Tennessee's width.

In Memphis , it would be daylight until midnight in the summer! I used to live in Toledo, Ohio and we regularly played outdoor volleyball until 10 pm in summer (with no lights).

I think you have to consider the economic clusters as mentioned above.

Memphis is a 5 hour drive from the Eastern line just east of Crossville. That's a big move west for the eastern line.

 

[cabanafrau]

I think everyone should be allowed to have their own personal timezone.

I bet we all know several people who behave as if that is the case.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I always thought it was strange for the tiny sliver of western KS to be in a different time zone but the combined populations of the 4 counties that are in mountain time zone is a little over 11K people so not much and holds little impact (one county is considered the least populated in the state) population-wise. Maybe there's an economic tie to Colorado but not sure what it would be and it's not all counties that border CO either. But state shapes are weird too, while many can be traced to river boundaries and trades along the rivers not all are. However, western KS (most of KS really) is hard sharp lines. Who knows. I don't often travel out that way, actually only when we've driven to CO and passing through the impact is negligible.

 

[kdonnel]

I always thought it was strange for the tiny sliver of western KS to be in a different time zone but the combined populations of the 4 counties that are in mountain time zone is a little over 11K people so not much and holds little impact (one county is considered the least populated in the state) population-wise. Maybe there's an economic tie to Colorado but not sure what it would be and it's not all counties that border CO either. But state shapes are weird too, while many can be traced to river boundaries and trades along the rivers not all are. However, western KS (most of KS really) is hard sharp lines. Who knows. I don't often travel out that way, actually only when we've driven to CO and passing through the impact is negligible.

I think there are many examples like that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phe...diately west,strong economic ties to Columbus.

Not all of Alabama uses Central for their time. Phenix City Alabama uses Eastern because as you put it the economic tie to Columbus Georgia.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think there are many examples like that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenix_City,_Alabama#:~:text=Phenix City lies immediately west,strong economic ties to Columbus.

Not all of Alabama uses Central for their time. Phoenix City Alabama uses Eastern because as you put it the economic tie to Columbus Georgia.

Sure, but I live in KS so I was using my state as an example. Of course there are plenty of other examples out there. TX has a sliver too in mountain time zone but the rest in central.

 

[tvguy]

No logical reason for eastern Oregon to be in the Mountain Time Zone.

The reason is because sooo many people in that area do business with companies in Boise, Idaho.

 

[Imzadi]

Yes, the Navajo Nation. which is in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico follows Mountain Daylight Time.

View attachment 886475

Is this rather recent? A couple decades ago we were traveling to Monument Valley from CA. It was Daylight Saving Time in CA. We crossed the border into AZ, went to Monument Valley which closed lost TWO hours earlier as AZ was on Mountain Standard Time, not Daylight Time. We were pissed about that.

 

[RedAngie]

Malheur County is on Mountain time because it's economy is tied to that of the snake river valley. It was done originally for train schedules but Boise is the closest city and it's still more convenient for them to be on Boise time.

Similarly, northwest Indiana is heavily tied to Chicago so it's convenient for them to be on Chicago time. Southwest Indiana is more conveniently in the same time zone as Henderson and Owensboro Kentucky.

The reason is because sooo many people in that area do business with companies in Boise, Idaho.

Maybe Boise should join northern Idaho in the Pacific Time Zone, then all of both states would be in one zone.

I looked at the Idaho pages of my large print Rand McNally road atlas. That east-west dividing line between zones in so convoluted in spots that a chunk of Pacific time is due east of Mountain time. Maybe 100 +/- square miles.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Maybe Boise should join northern Idaho in the Pacific Time Zone, then all of both states would be in one zone.

I looked at the Idaho pages of my large print Rand McNally road atlas. That east-west dividing line between zones in so convoluted in spots that a chunk of Pacific time is due east of Mountain time. Maybe 100 +/- square miles.

Northern Idaho is on Pacific time because it's more convenient for them to be on Spokane time. And No way Boise is going to change for Northern Idaho.

 

[Babs Johnson]

And then there's China - one gigantic country with the same time zone. That's easier to remember, but it would be quite odd if the US was in one time zone!

The US including Alaska and Hawaii SHOULD only have one time zone. Base it on Central Time.

 

[barkley]

The US including Alaska and Hawaii SHOULD only have one time zone. Base it on Central Time.

so that would push us 2 hours later on the clock than it currently reads here. not sounding appealing during the winter months when it would have the kids starting school almost 2 hours before sunrise.

 

[EACarlson]

Isn't there also a section of like Ohio or Indiana that does or doesn't follow the rest of the state? So interesting to look at each state as so different from other states and even major differences within each state.

Prior to 2005, the portions of Indiana that are in the Eastern Time Zone did not observe Daylight Saving Time, they were on Easter Standard Time year round. Which meant that during the summer, all of Indiana was on the same time as the Central Time Zone portions did observe DST. I have a lot of family in the northwest part of the state, when you spoke to someone and made plans you always asked, Chicago time or Michigan time.