Fun With Time Zones

I seem to recall that Indiana is the only state that is actually divided into ttwo times zones: Central and Eastern. I also seem to remember that there was a city that the dividing essentially cut in half, where folks on opposite sides of a certain street lived in different time zones.

Is any of this true? Also, which states do not adopt daylight savings?

I don’t have an atlas handy, but I believe Gary, Indiana is in the same timezone as Chicago, but not the rest of the state, something like that. Makes sense, since it would be confusing if a major metropolitan area was split into two time zones.

I’m pretty sure a part of Oregon or Washington is in Mountain Time. I think it had to do with the agricultural area, not metropolitan area.

Now where’s my darn atlas?!

Many states have a time-zone boundary running down the middle, but only Indiana takes advantage of a certain law: If your state is split by a time zone, then you have the option of having only the western half go to DST. Right now western Indiana is on CDT while eastern Indiana is on EST. These are the same time, today. But on Sunday, western Indiana will revert to CST.

Michigan is also split between two time zones. The far western part of the Upper Peninsula is in the Central time zone. In general, time zone boundaries don’t necessarily follow state lines, they try to avoid high population density areas.

Bizerta, I don’t think there is any such law restricting going on or off daylight savings. IIRC, Arizona (until recently, at least), never went on daylight savings.

Federal law, you have three choices: the entire state goes on DST; The entire state does not go on DST (Hawaii, Arizona); If the state is split with a time zone boundary, the eastern half does not have to go to DST. When this law was first enacted, KY (IIRC) chose the 3rd option. I do noe know when KY dropped the option and when IN picked it up.

Prior to this law (1965?), it was all local option.

The state of Idaho is also in two different time zones. (south is in mountain time zone, north is in pacific time zone.)

According to the Infoplease Encyclopedia: «Arizona, Hawaii, and sections of Indiana do not use daylight saving time.»

Whoops! Forgot to post this link.

USA time zones map with current local time

According to that map, these states in two different time zones:
Oregon, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana.

You missed Florida, whose western panhandle that is south of Alabama is in Central time.

This brings up the following riddle: A friend calls up another long distance. The first lives in a Pacific Coast state, the other in an Atlantic Coast state. Comparing time, they find out that it’s the same time in both their locations. How is this possible? When is this call made?

Answer: First friend is from eastern Oregon, which is in Mountain Time. Second friend is in western Florida, which is in Central Time. The caller has called his Floridian friend within an hour of him (Floridian) setting his clocks back from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time, on the last Sunday of October. So the time is 1-something AM Central Standard Time for the Floridian and 1-something Mountain Daylight Time for the Oregonian.

Thank you for the correction AWB, and the great logic puzzle!

I also missed Kentucky and Tennesee.

You also left out Michigan. There are a few counties in the western part of the Upper Peninsula that are in Central Time.

As for a time zone boundary being near a city, one place I noticed this was in Pierre, SD; the Mountain Time Zone runs right up to the outskirts of town, but the town is in Central Time.

I never would have guessed there’d be a law. I thought it was just common sense.

Arnold, did you miss Michigan too, or just not include it because it was already mentioned?

You’re ALL wrong!

Try this link:

What time is it in Indiana?

Most of the state doesn’t change their clocks for Daylight Saving.

To clarify for those who can’t hit links (sometimes I can’t at work):

Nearly all of Indiana is always on Eastern Standard Time. Even in the summer. Only very small portions differ. For instance:

10 counties - 5 near Chicago in the NW and 5 near Evansville, IN in the SW (all very small regions) are in the Central Time Zone, and switch and remain the same as Chicago (CDT and CST).

5 counties - 2 near Cincinnati and 3 near Louisville, KY are in the Eastern Time Zone, and switch with and remain on the same time as New York (EDT and EST).

The rest of Indiana (the 77 remaining counties) are ALWAYS on Eastern Standard Time. It does NOT switch from Central Daylight to Eastern Standard.

**Here’s the US time zone map.

http://www.worldtimezone.com/time-usa2.htm **

You’ll notice many states are split.

No, I missed it (as you and malden pointed out) because I didn’t read that map very attentively. Back to grade school with me!

Everybody seems to be forgetting El Paso, Texas which is in the Mountain Time Zone, unlike the rest of Texas.

You also missed Texas. Ysleta County (El Paso) is on Mountain Time, while the rest of the state is in Central Time. To add further confusion, Mexico doesn’t observe daylight savings time in the summer. When you travel directly south from McAllen, Texas, into Reynosa, Tamps., you gain an hour (as in repeat the current hour on the clock). It’s a helluva long bridge.

AAARRRGGGHHH! I typed as fast as I could and BobT beat me too it.

They still don’t, except for the Navajo Nation. I went from L. A. to Texas earlier this summer by bus and did not have to change my watch until I crossed the state line into New Mexico. Later that same day, I had to change it again about two-and-a-half hours after leaving El Paso. It meant that “day” for me was only 22 hours long.

On the way back, though, I experienced a 26-hour-day, so I broke even!

According to Connor, five counties remain in lock-step with New York on the EST/EDT, while most of the state remains on EST at all times. But looking at the governing statute (15 USC 260a), this is prohibited. According to the statute, Indiana has four choices: All on DST, only the EST portion goes to EDT, only the CST portion goes to CDT, or 12 months of standard time. In addition, the statute explicitly superceeds state law.