# Current GMT/UTC/Zulu time... Why 7 hours ahead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 6, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197 "2024-05-06T20:05:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/1 "2024-05-06T20:05:45Z")
I reset my watch today, which has a 24-hour hand. Currently in Pacific Standard Time, it is 13:00. I looked up the current UTC, and it says it’s 20:00. Why is UTC only seven hours ahead instead of eight hours ahead? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/2 "2024-05-06T20:10:48Z")
We’re in daylight savings time and UTC doesn’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/3 "2024-05-06T20:11:07Z")
You are using Pacific Daylight Time, not Pacific Standard Time. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/4 "2024-05-06T20:20:04Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > We’re in daylight savings time and UTC doesn’t do that. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You are using Pacific Daylight Time, not Pacific Standard Time. DOH! I forgot we went to PDT a couple of months ago. _Sheesh!_ Total cerebral flatulence. Mod, please close the thread. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/5 "2024-05-06T21:51:55Z")
Well, since summer there (the PNW) looks like winter in much of the rest of the country, I think your confusion is completely understandable. 😉 If you want it closed, report your OP and request that. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/6 "2024-05-06T22:05:00Z")
Truck drivers in Europe all have electronic tachographs to record hours worked, speeds, breaks etc. Although the time on the front may show local time (and can be adjusted by the driver), the underlying clock is always set to within a few minutes of UTC. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/7 "2024-05-06T22:44:36Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > daylight savings time and UTC doesn’t do that. Which is why military timekeeping is GMT (ZULU). Having the timing of military operations affected by seasonal time shifts (and the uncertainty surrounding them) would suck supremely. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/8 "2024-05-07T01:12:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > DOH! I forgot we went to PDT a couple of months ago. _Sheesh!_ Move to Arizona. We don’t put up with that daylight saving baloney. Unless you live on the Navajo reservation; then you do. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/9 "2024-05-07T01:19:46Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Move to Arizona. We don’t put up with that daylight saving baloney. > > Unless you live on the Navajo reservation; then you do. Arizona does not have Daylight Saving. But the Navajo Nation does. But the Hopi Nation (entirely surrounded by the Navajo Nation) does not. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/10 "2024-05-07T01:21:02Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Having the timing of military operations affected by seasonal time shifts (and the uncertainty surrounding them) would suck supremely. Exactly! Why, the Germans in WWII had a plan (Operation _Betriebszeitverschiebung_\*) to suddenly change civil time in France as soon as the first wave of attackers hit the beach on D-Day, thus messing up Allied timetables and forcing rear-echelon troops to go in before the beachhead had been secured. Fortunately, the Allies were wise to this diabolical ruse, and kept their clocks on GMT despite being almost all the way around the world from the International Date Line, from which most of the world’s tropical palm fruits are gathered. \* Hey, Google translated that for me. Nobody tell **EinsteinsHund**! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/11 "2024-05-07T01:30:52Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Arizona does not have Daylight Saving. But the Navajo Nation does. But the Hopi Nation (entirely surrounded by the Navajo Nation) does not. True, but it was already complicated enough as it was. If you want to go all the way down the rabbit hole, the Navajo community of Jeddito is entirely surrounded by the Hopi nation in its southeast corner. Guidebooks on the area advise you to “enquire locally” about the time. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/12 "2024-05-07T02:12:10Z")
All times are wrong that aren’t Mingo Mean Time. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/13 "2024-05-07T02:35:15Z")
Why no Mingo Nice Time? Why Mingo always mean? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/14 "2024-05-07T02:58:00Z")
Time doughnut! 🍩 Ok, I don’t really know what that means, but it’s making me laugh hysterically and I needed a good belly laugh! ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/15 "2024-05-07T03:02:46Z")
Ask Ming. You know, that Merciless guy. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/16 "2024-05-07T07:36:04Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > Exactly! Why, the Germans in WWII had a plan (Operation _Betriebszeitverschiebung_\*) to suddenly change civil time in France as soon as the first wave of attackers hit the beach on D-Day, thus messing up Allied timetables and forcing rear-echelon troops to go in before the beachhead had been secured. Fortunately, the Allies were wise to this diabolical ruse, and kept their clocks on GMT despite being almost all the way around the world from the International Date Line, from which most of the world’s tropical palm fruits are gathered. The swine! More than a touch of Goon Show to this - rather like tying someone up, then cutting off and hiding the knots so they can’t free themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/17 "2024-05-08T21:55:04Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Which is why military timekeeping is GMT (ZULU). Having the timing of military operations affected by seasonal time shifts (and the uncertainty surrounding them) would suck supremely. Our EMS trip sheet software assumes every action is later than the previous one. We had a Fall call that came out right before clock change & it wouldn’t let us put in accurate times for the latter events in the sequence. Workaround was that we just made it as if DST didn’t end & put a note at the bottom of the narrative because our times didn’t match up with the county’s run sheet. - Dispatch - En Route - On Scene - Patient contact - Depart - Arrival (at horse pistol / LZ) - Available ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/18 "2024-05-08T21:59:11Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > - Arrival (at horse pistol / LZ) Speech-to-text typo, or deliberate witticism? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/19 "2024-05-08T22:00:04Z")
learned that term from one of the MuMPers I’ve also learned that I irk in an orifice with my cow-orkers ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2024, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-gmt-utc-zulu-time-why-7-hours-ahead/1001197/20 "2024-05-09T06:35:01Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > More than a touch of Goon Show to this And they knew about time: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rLQhQSiDR-k/maxresdefault.jpg "'Eccles Time' Animatic") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLQhQSiDR-k)