U.S. Time Zones in practice The United States spans four standard Time Zones—Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific—each Time Zone is one hour apart from east to west. That means a three-hour gap between New York and Los Angeles on the same calendar day. Most of Alaska uses Alaska Time (UTC−9 / −8 with DST); the far western Aleutians (including Adak) use Hawaii–Aleutian Time (UTC−. Check exact current time and discover the key facts about Central Standard Time. Out of the seven countries comprising Central America, all but one use Central Standard Time year-round: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Central Standard Time (CST) is the second easternmost time zone in the United States and is also used in Canada. It covers all or parts of 20 states in the US and three provinces or territories in Canada. In North America, Central Time observes standard time at six hours behind UTC (UTC-6), shifting to five hours behind (UTC-5) during daylight saving time. Standard time in the zone is based on the mean solar time of the 90th meridian west of Greenwich. Central Standard Time (CST) is a time zone observed across central North America and parts of Central America, with a standard UTC offset of -06:00. The abbreviation CST stands for Central Standard Time, used during the non-daylight-saving period. Exact time now, time zone, time difference, sunrise/sunset time and key facts for Central Time (CT). Exact time now, time zone, time difference, sunrise/sunset time and key facts for Central Standard Time (CST). The term Central Time (CT) is often used to denote the local time in areas observing either Central Standard Time (CST) or Central Daylight Time (CDT). In other words, in locations observing Daylight Saving Time during part of the year, Central Time is not static but switches between CST and CDT. See the current Central Time right now. Live CST/CDT clock with date, UTC offset, and city comparison tool. Covers all US states in the Central Time Zone.