Farmers' Almanac sounds off on extended Daylight Saving Time schedule

LEWISTON, ME – If these cold fall mornings seem a little drearier, and darker than usual to you this year, you're not alone, and you're not imagining things. They are darker.

This coming weekend, we'll all "fall back" to Standard Time, and brighter mornings, a little later than usual. This is because Daylight Saving Time is longer now, thanks to the Energy Policy Act signed by President Bush in 2005. This year DST began on Sunday, March 11, and ends on Sunday, Nov. 4, meaning more than two thirds of this year (245 days in total) has been in DST. Supporters of the change claim it will save the equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil per day. But others question the accuracy of the energy-savings claim (based on US Department of Energy statistics from the early '70s).

In anticipation of the change, the Farmers' Almanac asked readers in its 2007 edition, "How much daylight are we really saving?" Has changing DST really saved energy and daylight, or has it just caused a lot of headaches? It may be a few years before any usable data can be gathered to adequately answer that question, but the country, or at least its computers, are still adjusting to the change.

Last spring, the change required the reconfiguration of virtually every computer in the country. Computers are automatically programmed adjust for DST, based on static tables stored directly on them, and a change to DST means a requisite modification to all of those tables.

Already this year, reports have indicated that many computers were not correctly adjusted for the subsequent reversion to Standard Time. On Sunday, Oct. 28, the day that would have signaled the end of DST under the previous schedule, numerous clocks were observed to be an hour behind.

The Farmers' Almanac, which is dedicated to advancing a lifestyle more in tune with nature, has proposed what editors believe is a better schedule for DST.

According to the Farmers' Almanac, the primary aim of DST should be to capture the maximum amount of daylight, without causing more morning darkness. Civil twilight – the period before sunrise and after sunset when enough illumination exists to be able to work outside – is an important factor in determining the best DST schedule. At the median latitude for the US (40degrees North), civil twilight generally starts about a half an hour before sunrise and ends about a half an hour after sunset. If we assume that most people rise at 6 a.m., DST should be implemented in the first week of April, when the start of civil twilight would coincide with that rising time.

The corresponding astronomical conditions for autumn occurs during the first week of September. Logically, that is when clocks should be set back to standard time. However, the Farmers' Almanac recommends the change occur on the second Sunday in September, in order to avoid conflict with the Labor Day holiday weekend.

For more in-depth information about DST and the Farmers' Almanac proposal to utilize civil twilight read the story that ran in the 2007 edition at www.farmersalmanac.com and be sure to cast your vote about which DST proposal you prefer on the home page.


About the Farmers' Almanac:
The Farmers’ Almanac, which features an orange and green cover, has been published every year since 1818. It contains useful and interesting articles as well as long-range weather predictions, gardening advice, recipes and more. It is the only Farmers' Almanac that has a TV show – Farmers' Almanac TV – which airs on Public Television everywhere. Editors Peter Geiger and Sandi Duncan are available for lively and informative interviews, either by phone or in person. Both love to talk about the weather, share useful Almanac trivia and advice, and offer tips on how to "get back to the simple life."

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