Time zone on new posts

Nope, I've got the correct time in my Pacific Time Zone....it shows you posted at 1042, lol.

Now its showing 12:42?

So, the U.S. time zones were a topic of discussion on our recent trip. We were returning to MN from Wash State. I noted the time zone changed at the Montana/North Dakota border, yet, it didn't change on all the devices. My husband who knows that the change occurs at about Chamberlain in South Dakota, said I was wrong, the zone doesn't change at the South and North Dakota borders. Most of the time we didn't have cell service, nor in Theordore Roosevelt Park, north unit, where we stayed a couple nights. The day we left, the time on some of our devices kept changing back and forth. When I final had cell service and did some googling, I noted the bizarre time zone border between central and Mountain time.

So, why wouldn't these borders be on state lines--Idaho and Oregon also have time zone borders that don't make sense to me. I recall when we went to a wedding in Indiana, the time zone was expressly stated in bold, capital letters on the invite. There is the tiniest part of Indiana that is on Central time

Here in the Land of La ( Los Angeles) it’s 11:54am.

The reason time zone borders don’t always follow state lines is so that local times don’t get too geographically out of whack. Today, in Rapid City SD (Mountain time, in western SD) sunrise is at 5:50 am and sunset at 8:07 pm. If all of SD were on Central time, sunrise and sunset would be at 6:50 am and 9:07 pm, very late for August. Conversely, Sioux Falls in eastern SD, on Central time, has sunrise and sunset at 6:24 am and 8:39 pm. If all of SD were on Mountain time, these times would be an hour earlier. The effect of these differences would be even more apparent during the short days of December and the long days of June.

"So, why wouldn't these borders be on state lines--Idaho and Oregon also have time zone borders that don't make sense to me."

Yes, the Idaho panhandle is in Pacific Time whereas the southern and eastern parts of the state are on Mountain time. I don't know with certainty but I can tell you as a resident that this area is more tied economically to Eastern Washington/Spokane than to Boise. There are mountains in the way to get to Boise, lol. The Time Zone runs along the Salmon River so the border is East/West instead of a North South line. On the Eastern side of North Idaho it's the ID/MT state line.

In South Idaho there is a chunk of Eastern OR that is on Mountain time, again due to economic ties with the Boise area.

Posted by S J (Western Canada) on 08/08/25 10:42 AM

This is what I see

The reason time zone borders don’t always follow state lines is so that local times don’t get too geographically out of whack.

I think there is a more practical reason having to do with urban centers that cross state lines. For example, northwestern Indiana is in central time because many people who live there work in Chicago, and that area is really part of Chicagoland. If the time zone were at the state border, they would be flipping back and forth every day. And Pam alluded to the same thing in the Idaho panhandle.

Another slightly different example is that the Navajo nation spans across northeast Arizona and areas of Utah and New Mexico. While the rest of Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time, the area that is part of the Navajo nation does so that the time is consistent.

Some of the lines between time zones are much odder in other parts of the world. China, for example, which spans across five time zones, is all within one. Wikipedia has an interesting article about it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone#Skewing_of_time_zones). (At least I find it interesting...)

I believe that time zones ought to fall precisely on lines of longitude; regardless of political boundaries, economies or the preference of local inhabitants. That’ll fix everything. It’s perfectly clear to me. I don’t know why you don’t understand it. ;-)

Ruminating on the lines between time zones for dpoweron........ Communities, villages and cities developed before the 1884 Meridian Conference formally adopted the 24 time zones of the earth. Rivers, islands, mountain ranges don't follow straight lines from north to south. A city may have formed on both sides of a river, or in a valley that had an east-west orientation. Why should a community have to use two different time zones because it falls on a longitudinal line? Just as state lines aren't always straight, but often follow a river's course, times zones can be finessed a bit. I am not aware of any egregious adjustments made in time zones, at least here in the US. So, let sleeping dogs lie.
To be honest, I find the imposition of daylight savings time to be more annoying. Growing up in Nebraska, we were told that it was to improve the schedules for getting farm work done when the children were out of school. I like the comment supposedly made by a Native American....."Only the white man would cut a foot off of one end of a blanket and sew it onto the other end, and think he had a longer blanket". Probably written by a writer for a late night talk show, but it is a great comment nonetheless.
Live and let live.

Well, that turned into a great discussion! :)
Now I’m seeing the correct times for everyone’s posts again.
I guess my IPad somehow thought it was in Chicago or thereabouts when our power came back on!

And, if you go to Newfoundland, their time is only half an hour ahead of the next zone instead of one hour.

Let's hear it for Newfoundland!!!

Or - we could eliminate time zones completely. Nine o”clock is nine o’clock the world around. No need for daylight savings time or time zones. Imagine getting on a plane in NY at midnight, flying for six hours and arriving London at six AM. Simple, straightforward, easy to understand.

Adding that in the US anyway time zone boundaries creep west. For example for ages the Missouri River in both Dakotas (at least for the interstate river crossings) marked the time change, was that way in the 60s. Now both states have expanded the Central time area and moved the time zone change farther west. So Jules you can tell your husband the change isn’t Chamberlain anymore, and yes ND has mostly moved Central time all the way to the Montana border.

Go back far enough and all of Michigan and Indiana were on Central time, now only remnant counties in each state remain on Central time. The Eastern zone creeps west into the Central zone, and in the Dakotas the Central zone creeps west into Mountain time.

People like later sunsets so move time zone boundaries west. I’d wager the long term viability of Pacific time is bleak but for Vegas, since they want the sun to set as early as possible.

I am in Germany and it says you posted at 7:42 pm.
It seems that where ever someone is, they get that time zone posted?

Fun discussion. An Aussie friend liked telling about an older person who wrote into his newspaperpaper "I don't like Daylight Savings Time because all that extra daylight fades my curtains".

I have a tablet (no cell connection, but has wifi). It gets it's time info from the wifi connection. When I was in Wisconsin last month, the tablet figured I was in Central Time. When I got home, I had the wifi turned off, so it still thought I was on Central Time here in lower Michigan. Turned on wifi, waited a few minutes, all good.