It’s time to ‘Fall Back’ despite the Washington legislature

It is that time of year again; time to ‘fall back’. Yes, it is time to change from Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) to Pacific Standard Time (PST), effective at 2 a.m. early Sunday morning, November 3.

But wait? Didn’t the Washington state legislature authorize keeping the state on daylight time? Yes, they did so in 2019, and Oregon and California have done the same. In addition, our neighbors to the north in British Columbia have indicated they will do the same if the entire U.S. West Coast stays on daylight time year-round.

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The hold up on this change is the U.S. Congress. Only Congress can authorize one or more states to stay either permanently in daylight or standard time. Several representatives in both houses of Congress have proposed bills for the permanent time change, but they have not made it out of committees. So the twice annual tradition of switching from daylight to standard time in early November, and back to daylight time in early March continues.

Time to Also Change Batteries

Fire agencies remind us that the time change is also a good time to change the batteries in smoke detectors. Too many fatal fire tragedies occur because the smoke detectors had a dead battery.

In addition, the National Weather Service (NWS) reminds us to also change the backup batteries in your all-hazard NOAA Weather Radios. If you are not familiar with all-hazard weather radios, visit the NOAA Weather Radio All-Hazards home page including how these devices can alert you to not only immediate life-saving weather warnings like tornadoes and flash floods, but also emergency messages from your local authorities for events like hazardous releases and wildfire warnings. The NWS Seattle forecast office that serves much of Western Washington has weather radio stations in Seattle, near Port Townsend, Blaine, Olympia, Forks, and near Randle, reaching nearly all of the region.

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With the holidays just weeks away, NOAA Weather Radio receivers for your home, car, business, place of worship, health care facility and more can make a fine holiday gift idea for loved ones. These weather radios are a lifesaver for the price of a pair of shoes and include external features to help those with sight and hearing disabilities.

So remember to turn your clocks back one hour Saturday night. Your cell phones and computers should make the time change themselves. Perhaps this time change will be the last one if Congress takes action next year!

Ted Buehner is the KIRO Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of Ted’s stories here and follow him on X.