MARYLAND

The end of Daylight Savings is great, but there's a downside to that extra hour of sleep

The Daily Times

The Ferris Wheels and The Paratrooper against the Chincoteague sunset at the Chincoteague Fireman's Carnival.

It seems like the best gifts always come with strings.

That extra hour of sleep may have felt nice, but there's a catch: Saturday was the last day the sun will set after 5 p.m. for a few months. It's because Daylight Savings Time ended at 2 a.m.

Daylight Savings Time is intended to help people better use the hours of sunlight in the summer by pushing it toward the evening when people can actually enjoy it outside rather than in school or in an office.

As a result, the sun will set Sunday at 4:59 p.m. for those in Salisbury. (That's true for a lot of the Eastern Shore, but there might be a little variation from one place to another.) According to sunrise-sunset.com, a website that provides the time of the sunrise and set for specific cities, the sunset will just keep getting earlier until Dec. 6, when it is expected to set at 4:41:45 p.m.

All that time, the sun will also be rising later. That makes the shortest day of the year the winter solstice. The solstice will be on Dec. 21 this year.

The sun won't see 5 p.m. again until Jan. 9, when it is expected to set at 5:00:15 p.m., just after the hour. From there, the days will rapidly grow longer until Daylights Savings Time starts again March 10 and we lose that hour once again.

Part of what causes the dark evenings is that Delmarva is situated so far east. In Baltimore, the pre-5 p.m. sunsets will hold off until Tuesday, Nov. 6, while Frostburg, on the western side of Maryland, gets all the way until Nov. 15.

Some have found Daylight Savings Time might save energy or increase consumer spending, but the hassle alone makes it not worth it for many. Hawaii and Arizona do not observe DST, although the Navajo Nation within Arizona does.

Other states have also expressed frustration with DST. California and Florida have expressed a desire to be in Daylight Savings Time year-round, while Alaska would like it abolished because of sunlight patterns so far north. Washington state has suggested both year-round DST and an end to it altogether at different points, Nevada pushed for a bill that would allow each state to set their own and Michigan and Indiana did not observe it for several years, although both do now.

Reach reporter Hayley Harding via email at hharding@delmarvanow.com or on Twitter @Hayley__Harding.