Time Difference Between Ramstein, Germany & California

Ramstein is located within the German state of Rhineland-Pfalz. The city is a part of Kaiserslautern county and it adheres to the Central European Time Zone. In the month of March, the clock moves ahead one hour due to daylight-saving time. California is in the western United States and falls within the Pacific Time Zone. Like Ramstein, California's clock also moves ahead one hour during the early summer months.

Time Difference

• Ramstein's Central European Time Zone is nine hours ahead of California's Pacific Time Zone. So when it is 5 p.m. in Ramstein, it is 8 a.m. in California. When it is 2:35 a.m. in Ramstein, it is 5:35 p.m. in California. The time of hour will always vary, but the minutes will not.

Coordinated Universal Time

• The world's clocks are regulated by a time standard known as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Currently, the UTC is officially held at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. This time standard is also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). All of the world's time zones are regulated in terms of positive (+) or negative (-) hourly offsets from the UTC. Ramstein's Central European Time Zone is listed as UTC+01:00 when daylight-saving time is not in effect. This means that the time in Ramstein, Germany, is always one hour ahead of the time in Greenwich, London. During daylight-saving time, the Ramstein clock moves ahead an hour, changing from UTC+01:00 to UTC+02:00. California's Pacific Time Zone is listed as UTC-08:00 when daylight-saving time is not in effect. Therefore, California is always eight hours behind Greenwich. When daylight-saving time is in effect in California, the Pacific Time Zone moves to UTC-07:00.

Time and Dates

• Due to the nine hour time difference in Ramstein and California, dates can vary. The difference allows for it to be a Tuesday morning in Ramstein when it is still Monday night in California. When it is 4 a.m. on June 25 in Ramstein, for example, it is only 7 p.m. on June 24 in California.

Daylight Saving

• Ramstein's Central European Time Zone skips an hour ahead during daylight-saving time. Since 1996, this change typically occurs on the last Sunday in March. Central European Time becomes known as Central European Summer Time. The time switches back in Ramstein on the last Sunday in October. Since 2007, daylight-saving time comes in California on the second Sunday in March. Pacific Standard Time becomes Pacific Daylight Time, and the clocks move forward an hour. Daylight-saving time ends in California on the first Sunday in November.