AKST to PST

Alaska Standard Time is UTC−9 and Pacific Standard Time is UTC−8. On the second Sunday of March both move forward, to AKDT (UTC−8) and PDT (UTC−7), and on the first Sunday of November both fall back. The difference stays at exactly one hour, so a meeting that works in February works in August.

It was not always this simple. Until 1983 Alaska was split across four time zones; that year most of the state, including Juneau in the southeast and Nome in the west, was consolidated onto one Alaska time. The exception is the western Aleutian Islands, west of 169°30′ W, which use Hawaii–Aleutian time and are two hours behind the West Coast.

Seattle is effectively Alaska's business capital in the Lower 48. Alaska Airlines is based there, much of the Bering Sea fishing fleet winters in Seattle, and container ships from the Port of Tacoma carry much of the freight that reaches Anchorage. Seattle–Anchorage flights take about three and a half hours, and with the one-hour gap you land only two and a half hours after you left by the clock.

One quirk: Alaska's single zone sits far east of the sun's actual position over Anchorage. In summer, solar noon in Anchorage comes around 2:00 PM, so evenings stay bright very late, while winter mornings stay dark until after 10:00 AM. For calls across the gap, a 9:00 AM start in Seattle is 8:00 AM in Anchorage. The East Coast version is Alaska to Eastern time.