There are twenty-four time zones in total all over the world. Time zones are used for identifying the correct time of a particular place. Instead of following longitudes strictly, time zones follow the boundaries between countries.
PT or Pacific time zone is one of the 24 time zones, which encompasses parts of western United States, Western Mexico, and Western Canada. There are also PDT and PST in the Pacific Time Zone which is slightly different from PT or Pacific Time.
Key Takeaways
- Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) is the time zone observed in the Pacific Time Zone of North America during daylight saving time, which is 7 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-7).
- Pacific Time (PT) is the generic term used to describe the local time in the Pacific Time Zone, encompassing both Pacific Standard Time (PST) and Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).
- To avoid confusion, it’s important to specify whether Pacific Standard Time or Pacific Daylight Time is being referred to when using the term Pacific Time, especially during the transition periods between daylight saving time and standard time.
PDT vs PT
PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) is a time zone observed in the western part of North America during the summer months. It is 7 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-7). PT (Pacific Time) is a time zone in the western part of North America during the non-summer months. It is 8 hours behind UTC-8.
PDT or Pacific Daylight Time refers to the time zone observed in North America between mid-March to early November. It is daylight saving time and it is 7 hours behind UTC or coordinated Universal Time.
This zone is called Pacific Daylight Time. PDT is also called summer-time as it is used in the summer season.
PT or Pacific Time is also observed in North America throughout the year and it is the local time in areas of Northern America observing either PST or Pacific Standard Time or PDT or Pacific Daylight Time.
PST is 8 hours behind the UTC or coordinated Universal Time and PDT is 7 hours behind the UTC.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | PDT | PT |
|---|---|---|
| Full form | Pacific Daylight Time. | Pacific Time. |
| Time frame | Mid-March to early November. | Throughout the year. |
| Season | PDT is observed in the summer season. That is why it is also known as summertime. | PT is observed in every season as it is observed throughout the year. |
| Difference with UTC | 7 hours behind UTC. | 7 hours behind UTC during summertime and 8 hours behind in wintertime. |
| Correlation | PDT is one of the parts of PT. | PT encompasses PDT and PST. |
What is PDT?
PDT or Pacific Daylight time is observed between mid-March to early November in the Northern America region. It is mostly observed in the Pacific regions of Northern America.
It is observed in mainly three states- the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It runs through several states of the United States, including Idaho, California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada.
PDT also passes through Mexico (Mexican state named Baja California) in the south and Canada (Tungsten, Yukon, and other North-West territories of Canada) in the North.
Pacific Daylight Time is 7 hours ahead of UTC or Coordinated Universal Time. This time zone is considered as the Daylight Saving Time zone and is also known as summer time as it is observed in the summer season.
PDT has several other names depending upon the areas where the time zone is being calculated.
Additional names of PDT are PDST or Pacific Daylight Saving Time, NAPDT or North America Pacific Daylight Time, and HAP or Heure Avancee du Pacifique, which is observed in France.
Compared with other time zones, it is 3 hours behind EDT or Eastern Daylight Time and is 2 hours behind CDT or Central Daylight Time. It is 1 hour behind MDT or Mountain Daylight Time.
What is PT?
PT or Pacific Time refers to the local time observed in the Pacific regions (mostly) of Northern America throughout the year.
PT is not static as it switches between PDT or Pacific Daylight Time in the summer and PST or Pacific Standard Time in the winter season.
It’s the westernmost time zone in Canada and the United States. PT is also observed in Mexico (Baja California of Mexico).
The Pacific Time zone is considered the 3rd most populated time zone in the United States.
So, PT is one of the most important and significant time zones in the United States and the world. In the East, PT shares a border with the MT or Mountain Time zone in North America.
PT or Pacific Time zone encompasses PDT or Pacific Daylight Time and PST or Pacific Standard Time. PDT is observed between mid-March to early November, whereas PST is observed between early November to mid-March.
In other words, PDT is observed during the summer season, PST is observed in the winter season and PT is switched between PDT and PST.
PT is 7 hours behind UTC during summertime and 8 hours behind in wintertime. Pacific Time is 1 hour ahead of ATZ or Alaska Time Zone, and 2 hours ahead of the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone.
It is 2 hours behind CTZ, 3 hours behind the ETZ, and 4 hours behind the ATZ or Atlantic Time Zone. Los Angeles is the largest city in the PT zone. The metropolitan area of this city is also the largest in the Pacific Time zone.
Main Differences Between PDT and PT
- PDT represents Pacific Daylight Time, whereas PT refers to Pacific Time.
- PDT is observed between mid-March and early November in Northern America, whereas PT is observed throughout the year in Northern America.
- PDT is observed during the summer season which is the reason it is also called summertime, but PT is observed both in summertime (during PDT) and wintertime (during PST).
- PDT is 7 hours behind UTS, whereas PT is 8 hours behind UTS during PST and 7 hours behind UTS during PDT.
- PDT is a part of PT and PT switches between PDT and PST.
References
- https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=pacific+time+zone&oq=Pacific+time+#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DAXf1pxHmoUIJ
- https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=pacific+daylight+time+zone&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DVkK0XTLYHdgJ
Last Updated : 08 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
