Zulu Time Now: What Time Is It in Zulu?
The time in Zulu (UTC) right now, what Zulu time is, and any Zulu time in every US time zone, in summer and in winter.
Zulu time is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), written with a Z: 1800Z. The military, aviation and ships use it so that everyone works from the same clock, wherever they are. Here it is right now, beside your own:
Zulu time in US time zones
Type a Zulu time to see it in each US time zone. US clocks move one hour ahead for daylight time at 2:00 AM on the second Sunday in March, and back at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday in November. Hawaii, most of Arizona and the U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and Guam, keep the same time all year.
| US time zone | Daylight time (March to November) | Standard time (November to March) |
|---|---|---|
| EasternNew York | 1400 2:00 PMUTC−4 · Q | 1300 1:00 PMUTC−5 · R |
| CentralChicago | 1300 1:00 PMUTC−5 · R | 1200 12:00 PMUTC−6 · S |
| MountainDenver | 1200 12:00 PMUTC−6 · S | 1100 11:00 AMUTC−7 · T |
| Mountain, no daylight timePhoenix, most of Arizona | 1100 11:00 AMUTC−7 · T all year | |
| PacificLos Angeles | 1100 11:00 AMUTC−7 · T | 1000 10:00 AMUTC−8 · U |
| AlaskaAnchorage | 1000 10:00 AMUTC−8 · U | 0900 9:00 AMUTC−9 · V |
| HawaiiHonolulu | 0800 8:00 AMUTC−10 · W all year | |
“The day before” and “the next day” count from the Zulu date.
How to change Zulu time to US time
- Eastern: subtract 4 hours in daylight time (EDT), 5 in standard time (EST).
- Central: subtract 5 hours (CDT) or 6 (CST).
- Mountain: subtract 6 hours (MDT) or 7 (MST). Most of Arizona subtracts 7 all year.
- Pacific: subtract 7 hours (PDT) or 8 (PST).
- Alaska: subtract 8 hours (AKDT) or 9 (AKST). Hawaii: subtract 10 all year.
If the answer comes out below 0000, add 24 hours: the time is on the day before. 0300Z on a summer day is 2300 the evening before in New York.
Zulu, UTC and GMT
NIST says the Z zone is the same as UTC, and that the name Zulu is still used in military, nautical and aviation settings. The FAA runs all its operations on UTC and lets pilots call it “Zulu”. UTC is never moved for daylight saving time.
GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, is an older term. It first meant mean solar time at Greenwich (called UT1 today, NIST says); now it mostly names the time zone at 0° longitude, the same as UTC to within a second. The U.S. Naval Observatory no longer recommends the term in technical use. Allied message rules (ACP 121, 2010) and the Air Force’s Tongue and Quill (2015) still pair Z with GMT; NIST, the FAA and the Army’s ATP 6-02.70 say UTC.
Sources
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), “How is UTC(NIST) related to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) International Atomic Time (TAI), Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), USNO time, GPS time and Zulu time?” and “Daylight Saving Time Rules”.
- Federal Aviation Administration, Aeronautical Information Manual, paragraph 4-2-12, “Time”.
- U.S. Naval Observatory, “Universal Time”.
- Combined Communications-Electronics Board, ACP 121(I), Communication Instructions General (2010), Annex A to chapter 3.
- U.S. Air Force, AFH 33-337, The Tongue and Quill (2015), page 360; U.S. Army, ATP 6-02.70 (2015), Appendix E.
All read October 26 and 27, 2026.