Daylight Savings Time in Iowa- When, How, & Why?

Alright friends! It's that time of year again – get ready to spring forward because Daylight Saving Time (DST) is just around the corner. Yes, that joyous day when all of us wake up confused and angry because an hour of sleep magically vanished in the night. Honestly, it's a super bummer of a day. And THAT day occurs on Sunday, March 10th, at exactly 2:00 AM, but hey, we're gaining more daylight, right?

Why do we do this whole daylight saving thing anyway?

Well, let me take you on a little journey through time. Back in "the day," seriously though, way back in the 18th century, our buddy Benjamin Franklin had this bright idea (sun-pun intended). He thought, "If we adjust our clocks to match the natural daylight hours, we could save some energy." Smart, right? Fast forward to today, and we're still doing it – just with a bit more science behind it.

Here's the lowdown on how it works in Iowa. When the clock strikes 2:00 AM on March 10th, instead of hitting snooze and rolling over for another hour, we're pushing our clocks forward to 3:00 AM. That means we'll be waking up to brighter mornings and enjoying longer evenings. Sure, it might take a few days to adjust to the time change, but trust me, those extra hours of daylight are totally worth it, especially after being cooped up inside all winter. It's a great way to restart and beat those "winter blues."

Now, let's talk about why we bother with all this clock-shifting business. Some folks say it's all about saving energy – you know, using less electricity for lighting and such. The U.S. Department of Transportation oversees the nation's time zones and the uniform observance of daylight saving time. The oversight of time zones was assigned to the DOT to help keep track of transportation and cites energy reduction and reduced crime as reasons for the continued time change. Plus, with more daylight in the evenings, we can spend more time enjoying the great outdoors. Evening walks. Grilling for supper. Kids actually playing outside for once. Sounds pretty good, right?

Like every "good" idea, not everyone buys in to DST.

But not everyone is a fan of that nasty, old-fashioned time change. Some people argue that the energy savings are minimal and that messing with our sleep schedules can throw us off our game.  And hey, I get it – nobody likes feeling groggy in the morning, especially for 2 weeks, which is about the amount of time it takes to adjust to a new schedule. Additionally, some states don't observe DST, like Arizona and Hawaii. There's also no clock changing in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas. Iowa has even messed with some legislation when it comes to DST.

But love it or hate it, daylight saving time is here for now. So, get your coffee ready to roll an hour early, set those clocks forward, and try to enjoy that extra sunshine in Iowa; despite a little less sleep and a messed up internal clock.