Sunday morning is “fall back” time

It's that time again; Time to “fall back.” Yes, it is time to move from Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) to Pacific Standard Time (PST), effective at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, November 3rd.

But wait? Didn't the Washington State Legislature approve keeping Daylight Saving Time? Yes, they did that in 2019, and Oregon and California did the same. Additionally, our northern neighbors in British Columbia have indicated that they will do the same when year-round daylight is observed across the entire West Coast of the United States.

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The person preventing this change is the US Congress. Only Congress can authorize one or more states to permanently observe either Daytime or Standard Time. Several lawmakers in both houses of Congress have proposed bills to make the time change permanent, but they have not made it out of committees. This continues the twice-yearly tradition of switching from daylight saving time to standard time in early November and back to daylight saving time in early March.

Time to change the batteries too

The fire department reminds us that the time change is also a good time to change smoke detector batteries. Too many fatal fire disasters occur because smoke detector batteries are dead.

Additionally, the National Weather Service (NWS) reminds us to also replace the backup batteries in your all-hazard NOAA weather radios. If you are unfamiliar with all-hazard weather radios, visit the NOAA Weather Radio All-Hazards homepage and learn how these devices can not only alert you to life-saving weather warnings like tornadoes and flash floods, but also alert you to emergency alerts local authorities during events such as hazardous releases and wildfire warnings. The NWS Seattle Forecast Office, which serves much of Western Washington, has weather radio stations in Seattle, near Port Townsend, Blaine, Olympia, Forks and near Randle, covering most of the region.

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With the holidays just a few weeks away, NOAA weather radio receivers for your home, car, business, church service, healthcare facility and more can be a beautiful holiday gift idea for your loved ones. A lifesaver for the price of a pair of shoes, these weather radios have external features to help those with visual and hearing impairments.

So remember to set your clocks back an hour on Saturday evening. Your cell phones and computers should allow the time to change automatically. Maybe this time change will be the last when Congress takes action next year!

Ted Buehner is the KIRO Newsradio meteorologist. You can read more of Ted's stories and follow him here X.