Alaska Time Now

Alaska Time Zone encompasses the mainland of Alaska States, U.S. and is not operational in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It also covers most parts of this state which are 9 hours behind the GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). St. Lawrence and the westernmost Aleutian Islands are on Hawaii-Aleutian time which is considered to be 10 hours behind the Greenwich Mean Time. There is no observation of daylight-saving time in these regions. However, Daylight Saving Time is observed in Alaska like most states in the U.S. It makes an 8-hour difference behind the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT-8) because it has been shifted forward by 1 hour.

The time is usually shifted back after the summer months resulting in the normal 9-hour difference behind GMT. Many longitudes in the state of Alaska is in the contiguous United States and is likely to result in some distortions when using the two time zones. Although logistical and political considerations have led to the use of two time zones in Alaska, it is considered to fall ‘naturally' into four time zones. As a result, it leads to some inevitable distortions such as the ‘double daylight time' as referred by the local residents.