As the northern hemisphere heads toward spring, most of the United States will be setting their clocks ahead one hour before going to be Saturday night.

Not only is that a headache for many Americans, it can be a real headache for non-Americans.  Converting to one of the 6 US time zones is about to change.

For the record, there are a lot more than 6 US time zones.  But there are 6 major ones.  Hawaii, Alaska, Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern.

So after the US goes back to Daylight Saving Time (DST), you will need to add one hour to your conversions.  For example, Los Angeles will no longer be 21 hours behind.  It will be 20 hours behind.  But, if you convert like I do and just add 3 hours and subtract a day, then you will have to add 4 hours and subtract a day.

For New York City, in the Eastern Time Zone, you subtract 18 hours.  Or, you can add 6 hours and subtract a day.  After the change, you will have to subtract 17 hours.  Or add 7 hours and subtract a day.

Be careful though, not everyone observes DST.  For example, most of the state of Arizona including the city of Phoenix ignores DST.  So the conversion to their time zone won’t change.  Hawaii doesn’t change either.

And of course, we’re not through yet.

On Sunday, April 7^th, we go back to Standard Time.  That means we turn our clocks back one hour.  Which of course means, we will need to re-learn all the conversions again.

Or, you could just go time the “What time is it in (insert your city)” in a Google search box and get the correct time that way.  This is another great resource: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Officially, the change takes place at 2:00am Sunday, local time.

Homepage image/  The Weather Channel

By Howard Joseph, WeatherWatch.co.nz