¿Qué es CDT (Hora Central de Verano)?

CDT es la forma de horario de verano de la zona Central de EE. UU., fijada en UTC −5 de mediados de marzo a principios de noviembre.

Live CDT (America/Chicago)

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Thursday, Apr 16, 2026

CDT — Central Daylight Time — is the daylight-saving form of the United States Central time zone. It runs at UTC −5:00, exactly one hour ahead of Central Standard Time (CST). The Central zone uses CST during winter and CDT during summer.

CDT in one sentence

CDT is the summer clock used by Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Minneapolis, New Orleans and most of the U.S. Central zone — UTC −5:00, observed from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November.

How CDT relates to other U.S. zones

Zone	UTC offset	One-line description
EDT	UTC −4	Eastern Daylight (NYC, Atlanta) — 1 hr ahead of CDT
EST	UTC −5	Eastern Standard — same offset as CDT, but used in winter
CDT	UTC −5	Central Daylight — Chicago summer clock
CST	UTC −6	Central Standard — Chicago winter clock
MDT	UTC −6	Mountain Daylight (Denver) — 1 hr behind CDT
PDT	UTC −7	Pacific Daylight (LA) — 2 hrs behind CDT

When does CDT begin and end?

Spring forward: Second Sunday in March at 02:00 — clocks jump from 01:59 CST to 03:00 CDT.
Fall back: First Sunday in November at 02:00 — clocks roll back from 01:59 CDT to 01:00 CST.

Which states are on CDT?

The U.S. Central time zone covers a huge swath of the country. States fully on Central Time include:

Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wisconsin

States partly on Central Time:

Texas (most of it), Tennessee (western half), Kentucky (western half), Indiana (a few western counties), Michigan (a few western counties), Florida (panhandle), Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota (eastern halves)

CDT outside the United States

CDT is also observed in central parts of Mexico — though Mexico abolished daylight saving time for most regions in 2022, so the alignment isn't year-round anymore. A handful of Central American countries used to observe a CDT-equivalent during their summer.

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Frequently asked questions

What does CDT stand for?

CDT stands for Central Daylight Time — the daylight-saving variant of the United States Central time zone.

What is the UTC offset of CDT?

CDT is UTC −5:00. During winter, the same Central zone uses Central Standard Time (CST) which is UTC −6:00.

When does CDT start and end?

CDT begins on the second Sunday in March at 02:00 local time when clocks "spring forward". It ends on the first Sunday in November at 02:00 when clocks "fall back" to CST.

Which countries use CDT?

CDT is observed across most of the U.S. Central time zone (Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota and South Dakota), plus central Mexico and a handful of Central American countries.

Is CDT the same as Mexico City time?

During the U.S. summer DST window, CDT (UTC −5) overlaps with Mexico City's daylight time. Since 2022, Mexico stopped observing DST in most regions, so the alignment is no longer year-round.