MST to PST Converter

Does the 1-hour gap between MST and PST ever change?

Subtract one hour. That is the whole rule. 2:00 PM in Denver in January is 1:00 PM in Los Angeles. The Mountain zone sits at UTC−7, the Pacific zone at UTC−8. The math never moves.

Both zones flip their clocks on the same two dates: the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. They spring forward together, they fall back together. The gap stays locked at one hour whether both are on standard time or both are on daylight time. Use the table below for any date.

Is MST always one hour ahead of PST during daylight months?

Yes. Mountain Daylight Time sits at UTC−6. Pacific Daylight Time sits at UTC−7. 3:00 PM MDT is 2:00 PM PDT. The offset shrinks by an hour on each side, so the distance between them does not budge.

The confusion starts when someone checks the raw UTC offset and stops thinking. MDT and Central Standard Time both read UTC−6. That does not put Denver and Chicago in the same zone. Chicago runs on Central Daylight Time in summer, also UTC−6, but the IANA zone identifier tells the real story: America/Denver is not America/Chicago. From March to November the two cities show the same clock digits. The zones behind those digits are different. Check the identifier, not the offset.

When does Phoenix use the same clock as Los Angeles?

Phoenix stays on Mountain Standard Time all year. No clock change. The offset is UTC−7 in January and UTC−7 in July.

From November to March, Phoenix and Denver read the same hour. The rest of the Mountain zone is also on MST during those months. From March to November, the rest of the zone jumps to MDT (UTC−6). Phoenix does not move. During those months, Phoenix and Los Angeles show the same clock reading: both sit at UTC−7. The zone names differ. Phoenix is on MST. Los Angeles is on PDT.

Schedule a July call between Phoenix and Los Angeles and you need no conversion. The hour matches. Schedule that same call between Phoenix and Denver and you subtract one hour from the Denver time. Arizona Revised Statutes §1-242 lets the state stay on standard time permanently. The Navajo Nation, inside Arizona, does observe daylight saving. The Hopi Reservation, surrounded by the Navajo Nation, does not. Check the location.

MST to PST at a glance

The table works in standard months and daylight months. The one-hour difference does not change.

Convert MST to PST right now

Pick a time in the Mountain zone. The tool shows the matching Pacific hour and accounts for whether the date falls in standard or daylight time automatically.

For code: the IANA zone for the Mountain zone is America/Denver. For the Pacific zone it is America/Los_Angeles. Hardcoding UTC−7 or UTC−8 breaks when the clocks change. Use the zone identifiers. They handle the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November correctly.

The next change for the Mountain zone lands on Sunday, 1 November 2026 at 2:00 AM local time. Clocks fall back to 1:00 AM. MDT (UTC−6) becomes MST (UTC−7). The Pacific zone falls back the same morning. If you schedule a meeting for the first week of November, confirm whether you mean before or after the switch. The one-hour gap between the zones stays constant. The absolute UTC offset shifts for both.