Difference Between Pacific and Central Time

Pacific vs Central Time

USA is a very large country and you are wrong if you think that it must be the same time in another city, in the country if it is 3 PM in New York. In fact, it is noon time in Los Angeles when it is 3 PM in New York. But why is it so? Isn’t it logical for a country to have uniform time all over its territory? No, there are time differences between time zones that necessitate the clocks to be set accordingly. There are four time zones in US namely Eastern Time Zone, Central Time Zone, Mountain Time Zone, and Pacific Time Zone. These time zones apply in the 48 contiguous states of the country. This article intends to clarify the difference between Pacific Time Zone and the Central Time Zone.

Pacific Time

Pacific Time is observed in the western part of the country and is obtained by taking away 8 hours from the universal time.

So, Pacific Time = UTC-8 hours.

When it comes to daylight saving, PT is obtained as UTC-7.

Pacific Time becomes PST or Pacific Standard time during winters, but it is referred to as PDT or Pacific Daylight Time during summers when daylight saving is required.

The most important city in the country making use of PST is Los Angeles. Whole of California and Washington, and most of Oregon and Nevada observe Pacific Time. Much of Idaho also falls in this time zone apart from British Columbia in Canada and Baja California in Mexico.

Pacific Time is 2 hours behind of the Central Time and this two hour difference is observed when one goes from a city lying in Pacific Time to a city falling in Central Time.

Central Time

Central Time is observed in the central part of the country and it is obtained by subtracting 6 hours from the Universal Time.

So, Central Time = UTC-6 hours.

CT is also observed in many parts of Canada, Mexico and Central America.

During summers when daylight saving is observed, Central Time becomes GMT-5.

Most of Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa observe Central Time. Many parts of Kentucky, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Oklahoma fall under Central Time. Most of the areas of Mexico fall under Central Time.

What is the difference between Pacific and Central Time?

• There is a 2 hour difference between Pacific Time and Central Time

• While PT = UTC-8, CT = UTC-6

• This means that CT is 2 hours ahead of PT

• In summers, because of daylight saving, CT is UTC-5 while PT becomes UTC-7