Current Time in PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)

What is Pacific Daylight Time?

Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) is the daylight saving time variant of the Pacific Time Zone. The abbreviation "PDT" stands for Pacific Daylight Time, indicating that clocks are set one hour ahead of Pacific Standard Time (PST, UTC-08:00). During standard time (fall and winter), the region uses PST. The switch to PDT occurs on the second Sunday of March at 2:00 AM local time, when clocks spring forward to 3:00 AM. The switch back to PST happens on the first Sunday of November at 2:00 AM PDT, when clocks fall back to 1:00 AM PST.

Regions and Major Cities

PDT is observed in parts of three countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The IANA time zone database groups several zone identifiers under PDT, including America/Los_Angeles, America/Vancouver, America/Tijuana, America/Santa_Isabel, and America/Ensenada. Major cities that observe PDT include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), Vancouver (Canada), Tijuana (Mexico), and Ensenada (Mexico). In the United States, the entire states of California and Washington, most of Oregon (except most of Malheur County, which uses Mountain Time), and parts of Idaho (north of the Salmon River) use PDT. In Canada, the province of British Columbia (except some eastern areas) and the Yukon territory observe PDT. In Mexico, the state of Baja California (including Tijuana and Ensenada) uses PDT.

Neighboring Time Zones

PDT is bordered by several other time zones. To the east, the Mountain Time Zone (Mountain Daylight Time, MDT, UTC-06:00) is one hour ahead of PDT. The boundary between PDT and MDT runs through the Rocky Mountains, roughly along the Idaho-Montana border and the eastern edge of British Columbia. To the north, the Yukon territory uses PDT year-round (no DST), but most of Canada's Pacific region follows PDT. To the south, the state of Baja California Sur in Mexico uses Mountain Standard Time (MST, UTC-07:00) year-round, so it matches PDT in summer but differs in winter. To the west, the Pacific Ocean is the boundary, with no land time zones. However, the offshore waters of the Pacific use nautical time zones, but these are not relevant for civil timekeeping.

Practical Business Hours Guidance

When scheduling across PDT, consider the following: PDT is 3 hours behind Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC-04:00) and 2 hours behind Central Daylight Time (CDT, UTC-05:00). For example, 9:00 AM PDT is 12:00 PM EDT. For international calls, PDT is 7 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), so 9:00 AM PDT equals 16:00 UTC. Common business hours in PDT (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM) correspond to 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM EDT and 16:00 to 00:00 UTC. For meetings with Europe, PDT is 8 to 9 hours behind Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+02:00). For Asia, PDT is 15 to 16 hours behind Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+09:00). Always verify DST status, as some regions in the Pacific Time Zone may not observe DST (e.g., parts of British Columbia near the Yukon).

Key Differences from Other Zones

PDT is often confused with Pacific Standard Time (PST). The key difference is the UTC offset: PST is UTC-08:00, while PDT is UTC-07:00. During DST, clocks are advanced by one hour. Another neighboring zone is Alaska Daylight Time (AKDT, UTC-08:00), which is one hour behind PDT. Hawaii-Aleutian Daylight Time (HADT, UTC-09:00) is two hours behind. In Mexico, the state of Sonora uses Mountain Standard Time (MST, UTC-07:00) year-round, so it matches PDT in summer but not in winter. The Yukon territory in Canada uses PDT year-round (no DST), so it is always on UTC-07:00.