UTC time now
UTC UTC+0 · IANA zone Etc/UTC
What is UTC?
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the world's reference clock — the standard from which every time zone is defined as an offset. It is kept by a global network of atomic clocks and never changes for daylight saving, seasons, or location.
All US zones sit behind UTC: when your device shows local time, it is applying an offset like UTC−5 to this reference. Aviation, computing, GPS, weather reporting, and international scheduling all run on UTC so that one timestamp means the same instant everywhere.
US time zone offsets from UTC
| Zone | Winter (standard time) | Summer (daylight time) |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern | UTC−5 (EST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Central | UTC−6 (CST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Mountain | UTC−7 (MST) | UTC−6 (MDT) |
| Arizona (no DST) | UTC−7 (MST) | UTC−7 (MST) |
| Pacific | UTC−8 (PST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| Alaska | UTC−9 (AKST) | UTC−8 (AKDT) |
| Hawaii | UTC−10 (HST) | UTC−10 (HST) |
The summer column applies from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November — see the DST dates. To convert, add the offset to UTC: 18:00 UTC is 1:00 PM Eastern in winter (−5) and 2:00 PM in summer (−4).
UTC vs GMT vs Zulu
The three names point at essentially the same clock but mean different things. GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is the older astronomical standard based on the sun over the Greenwich meridian, still used as a time zone name in the UK and West Africa. UTC is its modern atomic-clock successor, defined in 1960s international standards and kept within 0.9 seconds of the Earth's rotation with leap seconds. For everyday purposes GMT and UTC read identically.
Zulu is simply UTC in military and aviation notation: the zone letter "Z" is spoken as "Zulu", so 1500Z means 15:00 UTC. Pilots, controllers, and forecasters worldwide file times in Zulu to avoid any ambiguity between local zones — more on the military time page.
Frequently asked questions
Does UTC observe daylight saving time?
No. UTC is constant all year. US local clocks change their offset to UTC twice a year; UTC itself never moves.
Is UTC the same as GMT?
For everyday timekeeping, yes — they show the same time. Technically GMT is a solar standard and UTC an atomic one, kept in sync by leap seconds.
How do I convert UTC to my US time?
Subtract your zone's offset: 20:00 UTC is 3:00 PM Eastern, 2:00 PM Central, 1:00 PM Mountain, and noon Pacific in winter — one hour later in each during daylight saving time.