The Sunshine State and much of the country are preparing for the annual tradition of falling back to standard time on Sunday morning.
Under the Uniform Time Act of 1966, when clocks strike 2 a.m., the time will fall back to 1 a.m., resulting in both earlier sunrises and sunsets.
For much of Florida, sunrise times will shift from around 7:40 a.m. to 6:40 a.m., while sunset will move from around 6:40 p.m. to 5:40 p.m.
Days will continue to lose more than a minute of daylight each day until the winter solstice occurs on Monday, Dec. 21.
The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. It also marks the official start of astronomical winter across the Northern Hemisphere.
The changing of the clocks does not affect actual weather conditions, unlike Earth's tilt, which determines the planet's seasons.
The continuation of the twice-yearly clock change has renewed debate over whether the country should continue switching between standard time and daylight saving time.
Florida lawmakers passed the Sunshine Protection Act in 2018, expressing the state's intent to adopt daylight saving time year-round once federal law allows it.
Nearly two dozen states have passed measures to make daylight saving time permanent, but Congress has not given its approval, meaning the twice-yearly clock change remains in place.
According to a Gallup poll, 72% of Americans dislike the biannual time change, but respondents are split on what should replace it.
Around half support year-round standard time, while only around a quarter support year-round daylight saving time.
The central question in the debate is whether people prioritize more daylight during the morning hours or later into the evening.
A shift to year-round daylight saving time would result in the latest sunrise of the year occurring between 8:30 and 9 a.m. in late January.
As things stand now, daylight saving time is slated to return on March 14, 2027, when clocks will jump ahead one hour. However, brighter evenings will return.
