Why do we go off Daylight Savings Time a month after the equinox in the Autumn but at the equinox in Spring?

Question

This seems unbalanced as it gives us five months on Standard Time and seven months on DST. Would it not be more logical to move our clocks ahead one hour at the end of Feb. (a month before the Vernal Equinox) just as we move them back one hour at the end of Oct. (a month after the Autumnal Equinox). Who can explain this anomaly?

Answer 1

daylight saving's time is set for the harvest. It was originally conceived back in the 1600's I believe in England. It's used to give farmers more daylight for working. Some myths say it was the result of the depression and more hours for workers. However daylight savings time was adopted before the depression. So it's not timed for the equinox, it's timed for the planting and harvest seasons which typically occur in early spring and late fall. Septembers not late fall.

Answer 2

Jimmy Town is essentially correct. I would add only that the agricultural seasons are roughly about two to three weeks behind the regular seasons. That is because in the spring, it takes about two to three weeks of warm weather to thaw the ground and frozen water sufficiently to start planting, and in the the autumn, the ground heat and daytime temperatures remain warm and workable about three weeks after the first frosts begin.
This has carried over into our everyday life. Even though the length of days in late February are the same as those in late October, the latter part of October is warmer because the heat stored by the earth throughout the summer is still present. This is part of where we get the "Indian Summer".

Answer 3

For the U.S. it will change starting next year. DST will begin on the Second Sunday in March and will end on the First Sunday of November.

Answer 4

It's all political. The times were picked to help agricultural industries. It's probably an extension of when time zones were set up rather than using local solar time.

Answer 5

Rum drinking season begins.