DST change, pointless.

By SysAdmin1138 on
Bellingham, Washington, where WWU lives, is about 30 miles south of the Canadian border. Or, about 30 miles south of the 49th parallel. This means we get some nice extremes when it comes to daylight hours. Here is what the differences are between the solstices (times converted to Standard for better comparison):

June 21st, 2006:
  • Sunrise 4:05am
  • Sunset 8:17pm
  • Total daylight hours: 16:12
December 21, 2006:
  • Sunrise 8:00am
  • Sunset 4:16pm
  • Total daylight hours: 8:16
So yeah, we don't get a lot of sun in the winter. This also means that doing Daylight Savings Time three weeks earlier makes it darker in the mornings. Here is a handy chart comparing the sunrise-times for 2007 on the DST dates. As above, without DST for comparison's sake.

March 11, 2007April 1, 2007October 28, 2007November 4, 2007
Sunrise
6:32am
5:48am
6:50am
7:01am
Sunset
6:09pm
6:41pm
4:47pm
4:45pm

Yep. Lots o' change there. Same chart, with DST calculations this time.


March 11, 2007April 1, 2007October 28, 2007November 4, 2007
Sunrise
7:32am
6:48am
7:50am
7:01am
Sunset
7:09pm
7:41pm
5:47pm
4:45pm

The DST change on 3/11/2007 will bring dawn to where it was on 2/06/2007. Oh. Goodie.

Just for comparason's sake, here is the same DST chart for Washington, DC.


March 11, 2007April 1, 2007October 28, 2007November 4, 2007
Sunrise
7:26am
6:53am
7:31am
6:38am
Sunset
7:11pm
7:31pm
6:13pm
5:05pm

DST this year will bring Washington DC's sunrise to the same time it was on January 15th (a few days ago!). On Jan 15 up here next to Canada, sunrise was at 7:58am.

What does this buy us, exactly?