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Beyond The Forecast: Why do we change our clocks twice a year?

(WSLS)

Happy Monday! This upcoming weekend, we’ll “fall back” as Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday.

The good news? You’ll get an extra hour of sleep! The bad? Sunsets will shift before 6 p.m. until February 16. The earliest sunsets we’ll see occur in early December.

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Early risers will also notice that our sunrises will shift before 7 a.m. for a couple of weeks.

(WSLS)

Modern Daylight Saving Time was proposed in 1895 by George Hudson. It was first implemented in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada in 1908 and the German Empire, along with Austria-Hungary, were the first to enact it on a national scale in 1916.

Over the years, many countries have adopted, then abandoned DST. Today, it’s observed by most of the United States, as well as Canada, Mexico and many European countries. DST is not prevalent in many African, Asian and South American countries.

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Proponents of the time change point to energy savings as well as workers’ desire for daylight after the usual 9-to-5 workday. Negatives include disruption of circadian rhythms and sleep and the need for people to remember to change their clocks.

In recent years, some states have pushed for daylight saving time to be permanent or end it altogether.

We’ll keep reminding you to set your clocks back an hour before you go to bed Saturday night! The time change is also a good reminder to change the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

(WSLS)

In 2021, Daylight Saving Time will start on March 14 and end Nov. 7.

Switching gears to your forecast, quiet and warmer weather is expected for a few days before our next soaking! Temperatures turn chilly again by Halloween. Meteorologist Chris Michaels has everything you need to know in our daily forecast article.

You can always get specific forecast details for your zone, whether it’s the Roanoke Valley, Lynchburg area, the New River Valley or elsewhere around Southwest and Central Virginia, anytime at WSLS.com/weather. Know your zone!

In case you missed it, we’re posting great weather content on WSLS.com. Here are a couple of links from the past week to check out:

If you prefer your weather information delivered by social media, you can follow Your Local Weather Authority on Facebook and Twitter.

-- Justin McKee