Rancho Santa Margarita 'Falls Back' As Daylight Saving Time Ends: 2022

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA — Sleep-deprived Rancho Santa Margarita residents will soon get an extra hour of slumber with the coming end of Pacific Daylight Time and a return to Pacific Standard Time in California.

You can set your clock back one hour starting Sunday, November 6 at 2 a.m., making it 1 a.m., instead.

While cell phones, computers and televisions will automatically be set back, you'll still need to change all wall clocks, alarm clocks, coffee pot timer clocks, microwaves and oven clocks by hand.

Residents should also take the time to test their smoke alarms while turning back clocks this weekend, according to the American Red Cross.

“Home fires claim more lives in a typical year than all natural disasters combined but working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half,” Kim Aufrecht, Regional Preparedness Manager with the American Red Cross of Orange County, said in a news release. “The sooner an alarm alerts you to a fire, the sooner you can get out. When you turn your clocks back this weekend, also test your smoke alarms to help prevent a tragedy in your home.”

While the added hour means a day of guilt-free sleeping in, it also comes with a cost: earlier sunsets through the dark winter months.

California is one of 48 states — save for Arizona and Hawaii — which observe daylight saving time.

Falling back is the better end of the bargain, at least for parents who can rest easier if they keep their kids up an extra hour before bedtime, expert parents suggest. If your kids are grown and flown, consider staying out an extra hour to celebrate Saturday night. Pet parents may have a difficult time convincing their fur babies to sleep longer on that blissful "fall back" morning.

The practice of resetting clocks in the spring and fall isn't popular among Americans. Many even voted to abolish the idea. In March, the U.S. Senate approved a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, however, the House hasn't yet discussed the idea.

A Monmouth University poll this year found only 35 percent of people surveyed want to keep clock changes.And they're not wrong in thinking daylight saving is arguably absurd — as this video outlines, the reasons behind the practice have little to do with farmers and a lot to do with Kaiser Wilhelm.

Pointy-helmeted, long-dead German monarchs aside, California residents still have to set their clocks back Sunday.

At least we all get an hour of extra sleep in the deal.