When does Daylight Saving Time End, Standard Time Begin in 2009?

The answer:  it depends.

The United States, Canada and some other countries (such as Saint Pierre & Miquelon and Turks & Caicos Islands) extended DST in 2007. The new start date for DST is the second Sunday in March (previously the first Sunday in April) through to the first Sunday in November (previously the last Sunday in October) or November 1, 2009

You can thank or blame President Bush (your choice) for signing into law a broad energy bill that extended Daylight Saving Time by four weeks starting in 2007.  Those four extra weeks were supposed to bring massive savings in energy bills.  Did it?

But now that I’m in Italy, Daylight Savings began on March 29, 2009 (the last Sunday in March) and ends the last Sunday in October, which is October 25, 2009.

All of Western Europe follows the last Sunday in October.

Exceptions to the Rule in North America (and elsewhere)

In Canada, the majority of Saskatchewan and parts of north-eastern British Columbia do not observe DST but instead stay on “standard time” all year long.

In the USA, Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, the territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are the only places in the USA that do not observe DST.

Other unusual DST in the northern hemisphere for 2009 are:

Cuba
DST starts Sunday, March 8 – DST ends Sunday, October 25

Egypt
DST starts Friday, April 24 – DST ends Friday, August 21

Iran
DST starts Sunday, March 22 – DST ends Tuesday, September 22

Iraq
No DST in 2009

Israel
DST starts Friday, March 27 – DST ends Sunday, September 27

Jordan
DST starts Friday, March 27 – DST ends Friday, October 30

Morocco
DST starts Monday, June 1 – DST ends Friday, August 21

Pakistan
DST starts Wednesday, April 15 – DST ends Thursday, October 1

Syria
DST starts Friday, March 27 – DST ends Sunday, November 1

Effects Similar to Time Zone Travels by Air

The one hour time difference, either from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time, or traveling though several time zones makes a difference on your sleep patterns. At least temporarily.

Daylight Savings Time will create an adjustment period, similar to long distance travel (cross country or overseas), as it could take up to one day per time zone traveled. My advice is to try to fight it right away, even if it means a few groggy mornings. It’s really mind over matter.

Effects of Sleep

I already wrote about the Humans’ Natural Circadian Rhythm Disrupted By Daylight Savings Time last year.

If you feel 8 hours of sleep makes you a zombie, be sure to read The Best Method to Sleep using your REM cycle and understand why 6, 7.5 or 9 hours of sleep is better.

Or, in my case, how I survive on 6 hours of sleep or sometimes 4.5 hours a night!