Simple, life-saving reminders for Daylight Saving Time

The sunshine this week has many thinking of spring. Another sign of spring is the transition to Pacific Daylight Saving Time that resumes again on Sunday.

It seems like we just switched to standard time not long ago. In fact, we did back on November 2 – just 18 weeks ago.

Sunday at 2 a.m., we move our clocks ahead one hour. On the first Sunday in November, we will fall back to Standard Time again.

Related: No real evidence of more traffic crashes after springing forward

The earth’s rotation around the sun has moved to the point that we are gaining about three to four minutes of daylight each day. So sunrises are earlier and sunsets are later.

With the resumption of Daylight Saving Time, we will have daylight well into the evening while sunrise will be pushed ahead an hour for darker morning commutes. Yet as each day gets longer through to the summer solstice in June, it will only take about a month before sunrise matches that of the change to Daylight Saving Time.

The switch to Daylight Saving Time is a great opportunity to remember to replace batteries in home smoke detectors.

National statistics show that more than 90 percent of homes have smoke detectors, yet about one third had dead or missing batteries. Working smoke detectors more than double the chance of a person surviving a house fire.

In addition, it is also a good time to change the batteries in your NOAA Weather Radio All-Hazards receiver. NOAA Weather Radio is Washington’s all-hazards warning system. For more information about NOAA Weather Radio All-Hazard receivers including where to get one for your home, business, school or vehicle, visit weather.gov.

The change to Daylight Saving Time is also a good time to check your carbon monoxide (CO) detector’s batteries. CO is called the invisible killer because it is a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas. More than 150 people in the U.S. die each year from CO poisoning from sources such as poorly ventilated generators or poorly functioning stoves, furnaces, and water heaters.

So remember this weekend to spring ahead one hour and replace your batteries.