Daylight Saving 2018: When Do The Clocks Go Back?

NEW YORK, NY – An extra hour in bed or the start of the long, dark nights – whichever way you look at it, the clocks "falling back" is the unofficial start of winter.

Daylight saving time ends this year at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, which means you'll want to turn your old-school clocks back before you go to bed Saturday night, Nov. 4. The change is automatic for most smartphones, computers, tablets and other digital devices.

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Daylight saving time is the practice of setting clocks forward one hour from standard time in the spring, and back again in the fall, in order to make better use of natural daylight.

The good news for the early risers is that sunrise will be about an hour earlier and there will be more light in the mornings, but it also means the sun will set earlier.

The daylight will dwindle over the next two months as winter approaches, with the earliest sunsets of 2017 coming in early December.

The shorter days and the end of daylight saving time are associated with the beginning of the SAD (seasonal affected disorder) season, giving people less daylight to enjoy after they got off work. SAD is clinical form of depression that is believed to affect about 5 percent of the U.S. population.

The end of daylight saving time is also a good time to change the batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, and to test the devices to ensure that they are still working properly.

Arizona, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not observe daylight saving time.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images