While Americans turned their clocks ahead for daylight-saving time on Sunday, March 13, 2016, for most of Mexico, daylight saving time does not begin until 2:00 am local time on Sunday, April 3rd. So, if you are an expat living in Mérida, or you’re planning to visit the Yucatan Peninsula this month, make a note and remember there will be an extra hour’s difference in time.
Daylight Saving Time in the United States
Daylight Savings Time (DST) begins in the United States on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. So this Sunday, March 13, 2016, U.S. clocks were set ahead one hour at 2:00 am local standard time, which became 3:00 am local daylight time.
Daylight Saving Time in Mexico
For most of Mexico, daylight saving time doesn’t begin until the first Sunday of April, and won’t end until the last Sunday of October. It is usually referred to as the Horario de Verano (Summer Schedule).
Mexico adopted DST nationwide in 1996, even in its tropical regions, because of its increasing economic ties to the United States. Although the United States changed the schedule for DST beginning in 2007, most of Mexico did not go along with it.
Beautiful Sunset at “La Plancha” in Mérida, Yuc. (Photo: facebook.com/granparquelaplancha)
But in 2010, the ten Mexican municipalities which share a border with the United States started to observe daylight saving time three weeks earlier, on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. This change in daylight saving time observance was requested by local governments and political leaders to help facilitate commerce with the US. (For more information, click HERE.)
And if you are traveling to Cancun, just keep in mind that Daylight Savings Time (DST) no longer affects Cancun, Playa del Carmen or the whole state of Quintana Roo, since the federal government generated its own time zone there in 2015.
Source: http://www.timetemperature.com/
