Sunday morning is ‘Fall Back’ time

It’s that time of year again; time to ‘fall back’. Yes, it’s time to switch from Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) to Pacific Standard Time (PST), effective Sunday morning, November 3 at 2:00 AM.

But wait? Didn’t the Washington State Legislature authorize the state to remain in daylight? Yes, they did in 2019, and Oregon and California have done the same. Furthermore, our neighbors to the north in British Columbia have indicated they will do the same if the entire US West Coast remains in daylight all year round.

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The US Congress is blocking this change. Only Congress can authorize one or more states to permanently maintain daylight or standard time. Several representatives in both houses of Congress have introduced bills for the permanent time change, but they have failed to move out of committees. So the biennial tradition of switching from daylight to standard time in early November and back to daylight in early March continues.

Time to replace the batteries too

Fire organizations remind us that the time change is also a good time to replace smoke detector batteries. Too many fatal fire tragedies happen because the smoke detector batteries die.

Additionally, the National Weather Service (NWS) reminds us to also replace the backup batteries in your high-risk NOAA weather radios. If you’re not familiar with all-hazards weather radios, visit the NOAA Weather Radio All-Hazards homepage where you can learn how these devices can alert you not only to immediate life-saving weather warnings like tornadoes and flash floods, but also to emergency messages from your local authorities for events such as hazardous spills and wildfire warnings. The NWS Seattle forecast office, which serves much of Western Washington, has weather radio stations in Seattle, near Port Townsend, Blaine, Olympia, Forks and near Randle, covering almost the entire region.

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With the holidays just a few weeks away, NOAA weather radio receivers for your home, car, business, place of worship, healthcare facility and more can make a great holiday gift idea for your loved ones. These weather radios are a lifesaver for the price of a pair of shoes and include remote functions to assist those with visual and hearing impairments.

So remember to turn the clock back one hour on Saturday evening. Your cell phones and computers should make the time change itself. Perhaps this time change will be the last if Congress takes action next year!

Ted Buehner is the meteorologist for KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Ted’s stories and follow him here X.