How do timezones even bloody work?!

[Nachtmahr]

So.. Yeah - I really need some help here.

So, according to this website I just found I am in the timezone called UTC +1, according to another I'm CEST, and according to another this is the same time as PT, but ET, CT and MT - What the actual hell is even gonig on at this point? What is the point of timezones if we have so many of them with so many different names, and no websites want to actually display all of them?

Am I missing something vital here, because I've got absolutely no clue what's going on at this point, and it's driving me up a tree..

[jouzinka]

Timezones group together places on the same meridian to organize the world's time for its management. They run from Earth's poles around the globe - North to South. On that very meridian it's noon when the sun is highest, regardless if the actual country is USA, Canada or Argentina. But because it would be very confusing if it was noon in one village and then 11:57 in another village just a mile away, the timezones were instated to make it easier for locally near places to synchronize their time.

These timezones were then named. UTC is Greenwich, where 0 meridian runs through, so Greenwich is the grounds for counting other times. If you are UTC plus one, then that means that when Greenwich strikes noon, it's already 1 PM where you are (or where I am, actually - we're in the same timezone, even though I am in Prague, Czech Republic and you are in Danmark). CET = Central European Time. It's the time that most Europe falls in.

You can read really interesting on timezones on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone

[Vekseid]

There are two ways of describing what sort of time zone you are in.

The first is your official designated zone - CEST - Central European Standard Time. This is because it may vary due to daylight savings time. I don't know if Europe switches between ST and DT descriptors as the US does (EST/EDT, etc.) for daylight savings.

CEST currently has a value of UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) + 1

UTC+/- is the other way, sometimes also called GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), but since GMT varies with Daylight Savings, UTC is the preferred nomenclature.

I'm not sure what you are referring to by PT, ET, CT, MT... out here these are short for Pacific, Eastern, Central, and Mountain Standard/Daylight time respectively, but that wouldn't match up with CEST ever.

[kylie]

        I have traveled a lot, and I still find time zones to be rather tricky when it comes to tracking people in multiple, random locations as you might here.  So don't feel bad.

        You might find it helpful to keep a zone map handy, especially if you're dealing with multiple partners talking about this.  Though that is more oriented toward situations where you have a clear idea where people are...  It might still help as a general graphic to think of it with.  It gives you something physical to tap across and visualize with, when counting out zones.

         Or just jot down a figure for how many hours you are away from each partner (+ or - whatever).  Then later you can consult it to recall how to calculate the time for each.  You can get current times for a selection of major cities on many websites, such as one Time Zone Converter here. 

Also on the converters, you can often enter in the place you want to find the current time for from various selection options.  You may also be able to ask what the time and date will be for you, when it's a given time and date over there.

         Also as mentioned above, yes be aware most (but not all) US states change their own time by an hour twice a year.  But sites listing present times really should adjust for this.

[Psi]

UST is the more modern naming of GMT.    Both of these values are the same

I am UST/GMT +10, but in summer when Daylight Savings TIme is in effect its UST/GMT +10 + DLS or UST/GMT +11 depending on how you want to inteprest it.   It is an absolute value that indicates the exact variance from an arbitary point chosen hundreds of years ago as the pre-defined "Master Point/Meridian"   If you have seen the Da Vinci Code - this is the "Rose Line" from memory.

UST/GMT + 10 corresponds to the local time zone - AEST - Australian Eastern Standard TIme or AEDT - Australian Eastern Daylight Time which kicks in, in about a months time for Summer here.

If you are UST/GMT +1 that means when its 10 AM in my time zone, its 1 AM in your time zone  (-9 hour difference)

This is an international representation of the time zones.   

The time zones you mentioned are likely abriviations of the following

    Central European Time  (CEST)
    West Africa Time
    Western European Summer Time
        British Summer Time
        Irish Standard Time
    Romance Standard Time (Microsoft Windows Control panel)
    Swatch Internet Time

[Oniya]

This might be of some use:

http://www.worldtimezone.com/

[gaggedLouise]

Yep, it can get confusing sometimes. If I'm saying stuff like "I'll get on to that tomorrow night/tonight/saturday morning" I make a point sometimes of indicating whether the reference is my own time frame or the other person's - often an American time zone, between six and ten hours away.

[Cassandra LeMay]

The first is your official designated zone - CEST - Central European Standard Time. This is because it may vary due to daylight savings time. I don't know if Europe switches between ST and DT descriptors as the US does (EST/EDT, etc.) for daylight savings.

Small correction here: The ST stands for "Summer Time", not "Standard Time". That is "daylight savings time" by another name. Without the clock change it is just CET, i.e. Central European Time.

Europe does switch to DST/ST just as most parts of North America do, but we start it a little later and end it a little earlier than the US (last Sunday of March / last Sunday of October in Europe), which means that the time difference between most parts of North America an Europe stays constant throughout the year, except for a few weeks (mid March and early November) when the difference is one hour less than during the rest of the year.

[Psi]

Small correction here: The ST stands for "Summer Time", not "Standard Time". That is "daylight savings time" by another name. Without the clock change it is just CET, i.e. Central European Time.

Europe does switch to DST/ST just as most parts of North America do, but we start it a little later and end it a little earlier than the US (last Sunday of March / last Sunday of October in Europe), which means that the time difference between most parts of North America an Europe stays constant throughout the year, except for a few weeks (mid March and early November) when the difference is one hour less than during the rest of the year.

That correction only applies to certain timezones, its always best to check if you are unsure.
AEST is Australian Eastern Standard Time, and AEDT is Australian Easter Daylight Time (Summer Time)

[Cassandra LeMay]

I only meant the ST in CEST. You are certainly right that St can stand for more than just Summer Time. If my wording implied that it could only mean Summer Time when it comes to time zones that was not my intention.

[Chrystal]

Another slight correction.... Sorry about this!

UTC stands for Universal Time Constant, and is also referred to as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) (by us Brits) or as Zulu Time by the world's military. Zulu being synonymous with zero.

British Summer Time (or BST) is what we call Daylight Savings Time, and is UTC +1. Most of Europe, as I understand it, should currently be on UTC +2, for Central European Summer Time.

Note that Daylight Savings is used in parts of the world where there is a large variation in dawn and dusk between summer and winter when the sun rises at 4:00am and sets at 10:00pm, you can make use of that extra daylight by moving the clocks forward an hour and making it already 5:00am, thus adding an extra hour of daylight.

However, the closer you get to the equator, the less variance there is. Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, the sun rarely rises much before 6:00am and rarely sets much after 6:00pm even in midsummer. So there is little point in moving the clocks around.

I hope this helps and doesn't confuse things further? If the latter, just ignore me!  ;D

[Nico]

I always found that this is a very good link when it comes to time and timezones and all the abbrevations.

I hope this helps. :-)

[Amazee]

I just don't bother with time zones anymore. I look up the time in a certain country on Google and use that to determine how far or behind of mine that they are.

[Chrystal]

Actually, Amazee, that is probably the most sensible suggestion I've seen so far! I like it. I think I will do that from now on.

[Amazee]

Oh wow. I didn't even think that anybody would take any suggestion of mine!

[Chrystal]

Oh wow. I didn't even think that anybody would take any suggestion of mine!

It follows the K.I.S.S. principle, by being so simple.

Where I am right now it's 1:28am. I want to know what the time is in (say) Packistan? Heck, why do I need to add or subtract anything?

Google Pakistan Current Time...

05:28
Monday, 8 September 2014 (GMT+5)
Time in Pakistan

Seriously, I'm kicking myself for not thinking of this!

[BAMF]

Also, if they have set their current time in their profile, you can see what the local time is for a member just by looking at their profile. For example, when I look at your profile, I see this.

Date Registered: June 28, 2010, 09:34:37 AM
Local Time: September 09, 2014, 11:22:02 PM
Last Active: Today at 05:18:10 PM

The local time is your time, whereas the "Last Active" goes off of my own time zone.