Montana is in What Time Zone?

If you want to reach someone in Montana, it’s best to call between 9 AM and 4 PM their time – this is due to Montana falling under Mountain Time Zone, which does not observe daylight savings time.

Some parts of the state overlap between zones, making it hard to know the appropriate time and day to call.

Mountain Time Zone

The Mountain Time Zone, also called MST or MDT, is an American time zone located 105deg West of Greenwich Observatory in London, England, following Mountain Standard Time during fall/winter months and Mountain Daylight Time during spring/summer months.

Mountain Time Zone encompasses the southwestern and Rocky Mountain states in the United States, Mexico, and Canada along the Continental Divide. This includes Arizona (other than Navajo Nation), Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming – generally two hours behind Eastern Time Zone; however, due to different start and end times for daylight saving time, they could lag as much as three hours behind East.

The Central Time Zone covers Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and parts of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, runs six hours behind Central Time.

Central Time Zone

The Central Time Zone is the second-largest time zone in North America. Commonly referred to as CST or Central Standard Time during winter and CDT (Central Daylight Time) during summer, this time zone lies one hour ahead of the Mountain Time Zone and one behind the Eastern Time Zone.

The Central Time Zone encompasses much of the United States, Mexico, and Central America, as well as some Caribbean Islands. Five states fall within its jurisdiction, while ten share it with either Mountain or Eastern time zones.

Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Tennessee fall into both time zones. At the same time, Mississippi also divides between them, with most of it following Central time and a small portion near its border with Louisiana adhering to Eastern time.

Texas lies between the Central and Mountain Time Zones in the western US, including its capital Austin and the southwestern corner operating under Mountain time. A small pocket in Kansas uses Mountain time while most other parts are on Central time; and finally, North Dakota’s southwest corner follows both time zones simultaneously.

Pacific Time Zone

Many know North America’s various time zones, yet few understand why or how they work. Below are a few details regarding the Pacific Time Zone (PT).

The Pacific Time (PT) Zone encompasses parts of western Canada and the western United States, Mexico, and Baja California. Standard time is used between autumn and early spring, and Daylight Saving Time from spring through fall makes it one hour ahead of the Mountain Time Zone but two behind Central Time.

Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver in the US fall under this time zone; Baja California in Mexico also uses this time zone. Furthermore, parts of China and Russia utilize it. Over 52 million people reside within this time zone, making it the third most-populated time zone worldwide.

The Pacific Time (PT) Zone lies at the westernmost point of North America. It encompasses British Columbia, Yukon, and Northwest Territories in Canada and much of Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and California in the US. Under regular time conditions, it lags eight hours behind Coordinated Universal Time; during daylight savings months, it lags seven hours. These times are determined based on solar mean time 120deg west from Greenwich.

Eastern Time Zone

If you reside in the US and wish to call someone in Montana, try phoning between 7 AM and 11 PM as they share Colorado’s time zone, meaning their local time will likely fall within this range.

The Mountain Time Zone (MTZ) is a standard timezone used in 13 states within the United States, parts of Canada, and Mexico, commonly referred to as Mountain Daylight Time or MST. It falls one hour ahead of Pacific and Central Times and two hours behind Eastern Time during Daylight Saving periods in summer months.

When Daylight Saving Time is impractical, Eastern Time Zone runs five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. This zone covers all United States east of a line drawn at 67deg30′ West longitude and parts of Canada that lie south of this line.

There are 17 states entirely within the Eastern Time Zone and several others divided between two time zones; Kentucky falls within both zones, and Michigan follows two schedules; its Lower Peninsula observes Eastern Time while its Upper Peninsula observes MST.