Difference Between PST and PDT

The Pacific Time Zone is one of the 25 times zones available currently covers parts of the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. This being the standard time in those parts of the world, it is also called as Pacific Standard Time (PST)

These places have their standard time calculated as Universal Time – 8 Hours. Universal Time is also called as Coordinated Universal Time, which is the successor of GMT.

PST vs PDT

The main difference between PST and PDT is that PST is the standard time followed during November and mid-March while PDT is followed from mid-March to November.

In short, PST is followed during the winter months and PDT is followed during the summer months of a calendar year. PDT is kept one hour ahead of the PST to observe longer days.

PST is followed in a particular season and another time zone exists that is 7 hours behind the Universal Time called PDT, this is followed in a certain period apart from PST.

PST and PDT are followed one after the other in a calendar year. PST surpasses to the next calendar year while PDT is observed in the same year.

Comparison Table Between PST and PDT (in Tabular Form)

What is PST?

Pacific Standard Time is the is the time zone followed in some parts of Canada, the United States and Mexico. It is the standard time that is followed during the Winter season.

Ideally, the months that they follow the PST is from Early November of every year to the Mid of March the next year. In Winter, the PST is 8 hours behind the Universal Time.

It is observed that Pacific Standard Time is used in Winter to reduce the day. There are places in the countries mentioned that completely follows the PST.

The shape of the Earth and the 15 degrees meridian calculation from the GMT also gave rise to different time zones, which may pass through the border of that state.

In Canada, only Yukon is completely under the Pacific Time Zone. Further, the Northwest Territories and British Columbia partially follow while the other parts follow the Mountain Zone.

In the United States of America, two states completely fall under Pacific Standard Time. They are California and Washington. As with parts of Canada, few states in the US is also split among PST and Mountain Time Zone.

The states that have partial Time PST in the US are Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.

What is PDT?

Pacific Daylight Time is the time zone followed during the Summer months in the places where PST is followed. It is again followed in Canada, United States and Mexico.

PDT is the other way around PST in following the time zone. It begins from Mid March every year and gets over the Early November in the same year.

As it is observed, PDT is followed during summer to extend the day. The standard time is calculated as 7 hours behind the GMT.

The standard time is kept one hour ahead of the PST. This helps in saving energy during the day.

The Energy Policy act of 2005 passed by the Government of the US altered the dates of PDT that was followed for many years. The policy states to change the time one hour ahead on the second Sunday of March every year.

Subsequently, PDT is set back to PST on the First Sunday in November. Earlier it was 1st Sunday in the April to Last Sunday in October.

The new policy has extended daylight saving duration in terms of Months.

Main Differences Between PST and PDT

• The two time zones belong to the same locations however the main difference between PST and PDT is, PST is followed during Winter while PDT is followed during the Summer.
• Pacific Standard Time begins from Early November of every year, it continues till the mid of March next year. Pacific Daylight Time begins in the Mid of March and extends till early November.
• The PST is 8 hours behind the Universal Time whereas PDT is 7 hours behind the same.
• PST is the standard time set while PDT is kept one hour ahead of PST during the summer.
• PST offers shorter winter days for the people whereas PDT offers longer Summer days.

Conclusion

The Earth’s geographical dimensions have given rise to the time zones. Understanding the concept of Time zones is no rocket science, but it sounds fairly impractical to follow the time difference for a few months. Say, 9 months of consistency on either side of the calendar spading across two years.

Of course, Government policy is to be followed, but the energy-saving aspect is what is retaliated by many forums after the Energy Policy of 2005. If daylight to be saved during Summer and save energy, so what can happen during winter, people may use more energy as it is winter and as well as gets darker quickly. All the more, the policy framed good and it has struck a balance, nevertheless.

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