Time zone · Americas
AKST
Alaska Standard Time
Alaska Standard Time covers the last frontier of the United States across six member zones. All of them observe daylight saving time, running an hour ahead on AKDT from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Current offset
UTC-08:00
Daylight · AKDT
Daylight saving
Active
Reverts 1 Nov 2026
IANA zones
6
6 observe DST, 0 don't
DST offset
UTC-08:00
AKDT · +1h
About AKST
Standard time, with a summer shift.
Alaska Standard Time covers the last frontier of the United States across six member zones. All of them observe daylight saving time, running an hour ahead on AKDT from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
DST schedule · AKST · AKDT
2026 Sunday · clocks fall back
Clocks fall back by one hour · in 2 weeks.
One year, two clocks
IANA zones · the technical identifiers
The 6 zones that resolve to AKST.
For software, always store the IANA identifier — never the abbreviation alone. The database keeps these zones distinct because their rules can, and historically did, diverge.
Where AKST is used
One country.
Same offset · UTC-08:00
Other zones at UTC-08:00 right now.
These named zones share AKST's offset today. When daylight saving rules differ, they drift apart for part of the year.
Convert
AKST to the world's clocks.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about AKST, daylight saving, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- Is Alaska Standard Time always 9 hours behind UTC?
- No — during daylight saving time (March to November), AKST jumps to AKDT, shifting to UTC-08:00.
- Do all Alaskan cities switch to AKDT in summer?
- Yes — Anchorage, Juneau, Nome, Sitka, Yakutat, and Metlakatla all observe daylight saving time and switch to AKDT from March to November.
- When does Alaska switch back from AKDT to AKST?
- Clocks fall back from AKDT to AKST at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in November.
- How many different time zones does Alaska have?
- Two: Alaska Time covers almost the whole state, and the western Aleutian Islands use Hawaii-Aleutian Time. This page lists six Alaska Time zone entries (Anchorage, Juneau, Metlakatla, Nome, Sitka and Yakutat) because their past clock histories differ.
- Why does Alaska have its own time zone code?
- Most of Alaska lies far west of the Pacific Time zone, roughly between 130° W and 170° W, so it keeps its own clock one hour behind Pacific Time.
- Is Alaska the only US state in this time zone?
- Yes, only the state of Alaska uses AKST/AKDT as its primary time zone.
- What are the daylight saving hours like in Alaska?
- Alaskan communities experience the most extreme variations in daylight in the US — in summer the sun barely sets, while winter brings prolonged darkness.
- Is Metlakatla the same as the rest of Alaska in terms of DST?
- Yes. Metlakatla, on the Annette Islands Reserve, kept Pacific Standard Time all year for decades, but since 2019 it has followed Alaska Time, daylight saving included, like the rest of the state.
Source: IANA tzdb2026d · Reviewed
Free · Developer API
This time zone, as JSON.
Its defining offset, DST status and member counts, from one endpoint.
Also in the API: time zones by coordinates, conversions that flag daylight saving gaps, and abbreviations decoded.
Moving off WorldTimeAPI? Our drop-in replacement needs no key.