Welcome to our Time Zone Conversion Calculator! This helpful tool is designed to easily convert the time between different time zones around the world. Whether you're planning a trip, scheduling a meeting, or just trying to keep in touch with friends and family across the globe, our calculator will provide you with the accurate local time in your desired destination.
Although our calculator makes time zone conversions quick and easy, it's also helpful to know how to perform these calculations manually. Here are some tips for converting time between time zones on your own:
These problems are difficult to solve by hand. Our Time Zone Conversion Calculator is always here to help when you need an accurate and hassle-free way to find the time in another part of the world.
A time zone is a geographic region where all the clocks are set to the same time. Time zones are based on the fact that the Earth rotates around its axis, which causes the sun to appear in different positions in the sky depending on your location. Since the Earth is divided into 24 time zones, each one represents a one-hour difference in time from the time zone next to it.
Time zones are determined by the longitude of a location. Longitude is a measure of how far east or west a location is from the prime meridian, which is an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and passes through Greenwich, England. The prime meridian is used as a reference point for time zones, and the Earth is divided into 24 time zones that are each 15 degrees of longitude wide.
For example, New York City is located at about 74 degrees west longitude, which is 4 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the time in the prime meridian. So, when it's noon in New York, it's already 5:00 pm in London, which is located on the prime meridian.
Being able to convert between time zones is important for a number of reasons. For example, if you're traveling to a different part of the world, you'll need to know what time it is in that location so that you can plan your activities and communicate with others effectively. Additionally, many businesses operate on a global scale, which means that their employees and customers may be located in different time zones. By being able to convert between time zones, you can schedule meetings and appointments more effectively, and avoid confusion or scheduling conflicts.
This is the most straightforward, but could be the most challenging. As noted, time zones are determined by location, daylight savings, and relative position to the UTC. The easiest way to do this is through a calculator or app like the one above which will directly tell you what time it is for each location. If you want to do it the old-fashioned way like it’s 1885, you’ll need to find the time for each location (try a sundial?) and then set up your equation.
If the new time zone is ahead of your home time zone, you'll need to subtract hours. If the new location or time zone is behind your home time zone, you'll need to add hours. This will tell you if you’re “springing ahead” or “falling behind”. For example, if you're traveling from New York to Los Angeles, you'll need to add 3 hours because Los Angeles is 3 hours behind New York, but if you’re coming back from LA to NY, you’ll need to subtract 3 hours.
To get the officially converted time, simply add or subtract the number of hours you determined in step 1 to the time in your home time zone. In our NY and LA example, if it's 3:00 pm in New York and you're traveling to Los Angeles, which is 3 hours behind New York, you would add 3 hours to the New York time. This means that the time in Los Angeles is 12:00 pm (3:00 pm - 3 hours = 12:00 pm) when it's 3:00 pm in New York.
Hourly map to convert the most popular timezones from the New York City (EST).
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Daylight Savings Time: Be careful of Daylight Saving Time (DST). This will really throw you for a loop if you’re traveling during specific times of the year.
DST works by moving the clock forward by one hour in the spring and back by one hour in the fall. In the United States, we recognize DST on the second Sunday of March, when clocks are moved forward by one hour at 2:00 am local time. Then, in November, on the first Sunday of the month, DST ends, and we change our clocks back one hour at 2:00 am local time.
When the clocks are moved forward or back, the technical time in the affected time zone changes. For example, when DST begins, the clock is moved forward by one hour, so the time skips from 1:59 am to 3:00 am. This means that the time difference between two time zones that observe DST and have different DST start and end dates will change twice a year when the clocks are adjusted.
Suppose your home time zone is on standard time and the new time zone is on daylight saving time. During the DST period, the time difference between the two time zones will be one hour less because the new time zone will "spring forward" by one hour. Conversely, if your home time zone is on DST and the new time zone is on standard time, the time difference between the two time zones will be one hour greater because the new time zone will "fall back" by one hour.
It wasn’t always like this, though. Daylight Saving Time was first implemented in Germany in 1916 as a way to conserve coal during World War I. Since then, many countries and regions around the world have adopted DST as a way to make better use of natural daylight during the warmer months of the year. However, it’s important to note that not all countries observe DST. It’s kind of a hot mess. South Korea, Russia, India, China, Iceland, Chile, Japan, Indonesia, Argentina, and a few others and some have stopped using it in recent years. Other countries have different start and end dates for DST, and some just started using it more recently. Before traveling, it’s worth checking with local jurisdiction.
This is where things get tricky. In the United States, there are several states that have multiple time zones due to their size or location or odd politicians that think this is a good idea. Here are a few examples:
An example of a town that lives between two time zones is Stateline, Nevada, which is located on the border of California and Nevada. The eastern part of the town is in the Pacific Time Zone, while the western part of the town is in the Mountain Time Zone. This means that residents and visitors in Stateline can technically celebrate New Year's Eve twice by crossing the street! This sounds cool for one night of the year, but a split time zone causes so many headaches for its town, those folks deserve to celebrate twice for just making it through another calendar year. Examples of the headaches: