Eastern Time Zone - wikipedia Eastern Time Zone For the Eastern Time Zone of Australia, see Time in Australia. `` Eastern Daylight Time '' and `` Eastern Daylight Savings Time '' redirect here. For the Eastern Daylight Time Zone of Australia, see Daylight saving time in Australia. Eastern Time Zone Eastern Time Zone UTC offset EST UTC − 05 : 00 EDT UTC − 04 : 00 Current time 16 : 46, 29 August 2018 EDT ( refresh ) Observance of DST DST is observed in parts of this time zone. The Eastern Time Zone ( ET ) is a time zone encompassing 17 U.S. states in the eastern part of the contiguous United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama in Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. Places that use Eastern Standard Time ( EST ) when observing standard time ( autumn / winter ) are 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC − 05 : 00 ). Eastern Daylight Time ( EDT ), when observing daylight saving time DST ( spring / summer ) is 4 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC − 04 : 00 ). In the northern parts of the time zone, on the second Sunday in March, at 2 : 00 a.m. EST, clocks are advanced to 3 : 00 a.m. EDT leaving a one - hour `` gap ''. On the first Sunday in November, at 2 : 00 a.m. EDT, clocks are moved back to 1 : 00 a.m. EST, thus `` duplicating '' one hour. Southern parts of the zone ( Panama and the Caribbean ) do not observe daylight saving time. Contents 1 History 2 Daylight Saving Time 3 Canada 4 United States 5 Mexico 6 Caribbean Islands 7 Central and South America 8 See also 9 References 10 External links History The boundaries of the Eastern Time Zone have moved westward since the Interstate Commerce Commission took over time - zone management from railroads in 1938. For example, the easternmost and northernmost counties in Kentucky were added to the zone in the 1940s, and in 1961 most of the state went Eastern. In 2000, Wayne County, on the Tennessee border, switched from Central to Eastern. In March 2018, the Florida Legislature passed a bill requesting authorization from Congress for year - round daylight savings time, which would effectively put Florida on Atlantic Standard Time year - round ( except for west of the Apalachicola River, which would be on Eastern Standard Time year - round ). Daylight saving Time The Uniform Time Act of 1966 ruled that daylight saving time would run from the last Sunday of April until the last Sunday in October in the United States. The act was amended to make the first Sunday in April the beginning of daylight saving time as of 1987. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended daylight saving time in the United States beginning in 2007. So local times change at 2 : 00 a.m. EST to 3 : 00 a.m. EDT on the second Sunday in March and return at 2 : 00 a.m. EDT to 1 : 00 a.m. EST on the first Sunday in November. In Canada, the time changes as it does in the United States. Canada Main article : Time in Canada In Canada, the following provinces and territories are part of the Eastern Time Zone : Ontario, most of Quebec, most of Nunavut, most of All observe Daylight Saving Time in sync with the United States, with very localized exceptions. United States Main article : Time in the United States The boundary between time zones is set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations, with the boundary between the Eastern and Central Time Zones being specifically detailed at 49 CFR 71. Seventeen states and Washington, D.C. are located entirely within the Eastern Time Zone. They are : Connecticut Delaware Georgia Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Vermont Virginia West Virginia Five states are partly in the Eastern Time Zone, with the remaining portions in the Central Time Zone. They are : Florida - peninsula and Big Bend regions east of the Apalachicola River along with portions of Gulf County south of the Intracoastal Waterway. Indiana - all except for northwest ( Gary ) and southwest ( Evansville ) regions Kentucky - eastern 60 % Michigan : all, except for the four counties which border Wisconsin : Gogebic, Iron, Dickinson, and Menominee Tennessee : East Tennessee Eastern Time is also used somewhat as a de facto official time for all of the United States because it includes the capital city ( Washington D.C. ), the most populous city ( New York City ), and half of the country 's population. For this reason, media organizations will often report when events happened or are scheduled to happen in Eastern Time even if they occurred in another time zone, and TV schedules are also almost always posted in Eastern Time. In the United States, all nationally televised morning programs ( except Good Morning America Weekend Edition which some ABC affiliates on the east coast air on a tape - delay ), some daytime talk shows, evening newscasts, most talent and awards shows, and any other nationally televised event that airs live on American television during prime time and on the weekends ( such as sports television ) are broadcast live in the Eastern Time Zone. Major professional sports leagues also post all game times in Eastern time, even if both teams are from the same time zone, outside of Eastern Time. For example, a game time between two teams from Pacific Time Zone will still be posted in Eastern time ( for example, one may see `` Seattle at Los Angeles '' with `` 10 : 00 p.m. '' posted as the start time for the game, often without even clarifying the time is posted in Eastern time ). Most cable television and national broadcast networks advertise airing times in Eastern time. National broadcast networks ( ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, NBC ) generally have two primary feeds, an eastern feed for Eastern and Central time zones, and a tape - delayed western feed for the Pacific Time Zone. The prime time is set on Eastern and Pacific at 8 : 00 p.m., with the Central time zone stations receiving the eastern feed at 7 : 00 p.m. local time. Mountain Time Zone stations receive a separate feed at 7 : 00 p.m. local time. As Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, during the summer months, it has its own feed at 7 : 00 p.m. local time. Cable channels with a separate western feed ( such as HBO, whose western feed is called `` HBOW '' ) generally air the same programming as the eastern feed delayed by three hours. Other cable networks such as the Discovery family of networks repeat their prime time programming three hours later ; this allows for the same show to be advertised as airing at `` 8 : 00 p.m. E / P '' ( that is, `` 8 : 00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time '' ). Networks specializing in the airing of sports events, such as ESPN, advertise all of their programming in Eastern and Pacific, incorporating the 3 - hour time difference ( as in `` 8 : 00 p.m. Eastern / 5 : 00 p.m. Pacific '' ) and leaving viewers in the remaining time zones to calculate start time in their own areas. Mexico Main article : Time in Mexico Quintana Roo : this eastern state followed CST for an almost - 17 - year period ( 1982 to some time in 1998 ). After more than two years of lobbying by a coalition of local hotel owners with the backing of the state 's government, the Federal government approved the change to Quintana Roo 's time zone, moving it from Central Standard Time ( CST ) to Eastern Standard Time ( EST ). The time change took effect on February 1, 2015. Caribbean Islands The Bahamas officially observe both Eastern Standard Time during the winter months and Eastern Daylight Time during the summer months. Cuba generally follows the U.S. with Eastern Standard Time in the winter, and Eastern Daylight Time in the summer, but the exact day of change varies year to year. Cayman Islands, Haiti, and Jamaica use Eastern Standard Time year - round. The Turks and Caicos Islands used to follow eastern time with daylight saving but switched in 2015 to the Atlantic Time Zone. Central and south America Panama in Central America uses Eastern Standard Time UTC − 05 year - round. The state of Acre and the southwest part of the state of Amazonas all in Brazil as well as Colombia, Ecuador ( except for the Galápagos Islands, which uses Central Standard Time ), and Peru in South America also use EST ( UTC − 5 ) all year - round. See also Effects of time zones on North American broadcasting References Jump up ^ `` Why Louisville ? ''. Louisville magazine. Retrieved 10 February 2018. Jump up ^ Klas, Mary Ellen ( 6 March 2018 ). `` Legislature approves year - round daylight saving time -- but it 's not a done deal yet ''. Miami Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2018. ^ Jump up to : Prerau, David ( 2006 ). `` Early adoption and U.S. Law ''. Daylight Saving Time. Web Exhibit. Retrieved 2007 - 04 - 23. Jump up ^ Law, Gwillim ( 2007 - 09 - 21 ). `` United States Time Zones ''. Jump up ^ `` Daylight Saving Time Starts Sunday ''. Government of Ontario. 2008 - 03 - 07. Retrieved 2010 - 09 - 21. Jump up ^ The specification for the Eastern Time Zone is set forth at 49 CFR 71.4, and is listed in Text and pdf formats. The boundary between Eastern and Central is set forth at 49 CFR 71.5, and is listed in text and pdf formats. Jump up ^ http://legacy.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060813/zones.shtml Jump up ^ `` SIID División de Politica Social `` Horario de Verano. Antecedentes y legislación comparada '' '' ( in Spanish ). Chamber of Deputies ( Mexico ). Retrieved 2013 - 11 - 04. ^ Jump up to : `` On Mexican Time : Changing Time Zones To Accommodate Tourism ''. Forbes. Retrieved 29 January 2015. External links Official U.S. time in the Eastern time zone North American Time Zone border data and images World time zone map U.S. time zone map History of U.S. time zones and UTC conversion Canada time zone map Time zones for major world cities Official times across Canada Federal Regulations defining time zones Time zones in North America Time zone Hours from UTC : Standard time Hours from UTC : Daylight saving time Hawaii -- Aleutian ( in Hawaii ) -- 10 -- 10 Hawaii -- Aleutian ( in Alaska ) -- 10 -- 9 Alaska -- 9 -- 8 Pacific -- 8 -- 7 Mountain ( Arizona and Sonora only ) -- 7 -- 7 Mountain ( other states / provinces ) -- 7 -- 6 Central ( Saskatchewan only ) -- 6 -- 6 Central ( other states / provinces ) -- 6 -- 5 Eastern ( parts of Nunavut and the Caribbean ) -- 5 -- 5 Eastern ( other states / provinces ) -- 5 -- 4 Atlantic ( Natashquan River ) -- 4 -- 4 Atlantic ( other states / provinces ) -- 4 -- 3 Newfoundland -- 3 : 30 -- 2 : 30 Saint Pierre and Miquelon and most of Greenland -- 3 -- 2 See also Time in Canada Time in Denmark Time in Mexico Time in the United States Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Time_Zone&oldid=856047784 '' Categories : Time zones Time in Canada Time in Mexico Time zones in the United States Hidden categories : CS1 Spanish - language sources ( es ) Pages using Infobox time zone All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from March 2012 Articles with unsourced statements from August 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Български Bosanski Català Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 हिन्दी Ilokano Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Magyar Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Русский Scots Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 中文 30 more Edit links This page was last edited on 22 August 2018, at 14 : 16 ( UTC ). 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Question: where is the time zone change from eastern to central
Answer: 49 CFR 71