What Is Pacific Standard Time?

Pacific Standard Time (PST) is the time zone on the west coast of the United States, which includes California, Washington, Oregon, and parts of Idaho. PST is 8 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and seven hours behind Eastern Standard Time (EST). The Pacific Standard Time zone is sometimes referred to as the “Pacific Time Zone” or “PT.”

PST is observed year-round as a reference point for many parts of the west coast of the United States. During the summer time in the United States Daylight Savings Time (DST) is observed where the time shifts from PST to Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), which is one hour ahead of PST. PST is usually in effect from November through March and PDT from April through October.

What Are The Benefits of Pacific Standard Time?

Using PST offers many benefits for the west coast of the United States. By sticking to a consistent time zone across the country, PST allows for better coordination between businesses, educational institutions, medical facilities, and other organizations that may be spread throughout the region. Also, by adhering to a single time zone, communication between the west coast and other regions of the United States becomes much easier, as well as communication within the west coast region itself.

The easiest way to benefit from the standardized time of PST is to set all watches, clocks, and calendars to PST. This will make coordination of meetings, events, and other activities much easier. Additionally, PST is extremely important for the synchronization of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices, which can also be easily adjusted to follow PST.

What is the current Pacific Standard Time?

As of 2021, PST is observed year-round, staying 8 hours behind UTC. This means that when it is 12:00 PM UTC, then it is 4:00 AM PST. In addition, during the summer time in the United States (when DST is in effect) the time is shifted from PST to PDT, which is one hour ahead of PST. PST is usually in effect from November through March and PDT from April through October.

To view the current time in Pacific Standard Time, you can use a time zone converter to find the exact time. Time zone converters can be found online and can be used to determine the current time in any given time zone. Additionally, many websites, such as Google and Apple, automatically adjust to Pacific Standard Time and display the current time in the PST time zone.