Understanding UTC and Pacific Time (PST/PDT)

This converter helps bridge the gap between Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and the time on the US West Coast:

• UTC (Coordinated Universal Time): The world's primary time standard. It's the basis for civil time and time zones worldwide. It does not observe daylight saving time. It's often used in computing (server logs, APIs) and aviation. Sometimes informally called GMT.
• PT (Pacific Time): The time zone covering the western US and Canada (California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, etc.). It alternates between:
  • PST (Pacific Standard Time): UTC-8. Used during winter months.
  • PDT (Pacific Daylight Time): UTC-7. Used during summer months (Daylight Saving Time).
  This tool uses the IANA designation "America/Los_Angeles" to handle the PST/PDT switch automatically based on the date.

Converting UTC to PST (or UTC to PDT) is essential for interpreting globally standardized times in a local West Coast context. Conversely, converting PST to UTC (or PDT to UTC) is needed when logging events or communicating times in a universal format. This pacific time converter makes the UTC conversion simple and accurate.

Time Difference Example

For users in Alexandria, Egypt (EET, typically UTC+2), Pacific Time is usually 9 hours behind during PDT (UTC-7) or 10 hours behind during PST (UTC-8). This time zone converter calculates the exact difference for any given date.