CDT stands for Central Daylight Time. It is UTC−05:00 from UTC — 5 hours behind UTC — and it is used in North America, in Chicago, Dallas, Houston. CDT is the summer time of the Central Time Zone, in effect from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November.
Try the tool: UTC Converter — convert any time to and from CDT, with the offset for the date you choose.
When is CDT in effect?
CDT is the summer time — the daylight saving time — of its zone. In 2026 it is in effect from Sunday, 8 March 2026 to Sunday, 1 November 2026. Outside those dates, the same places use the standard time instead. The spring change moves the clocks forward one hour — 2am becomes 3am — and the autumn change moves them back — 2am becomes 1am.
What time is it when it is 12:00 CDT?
| City | Local time when it is 12:00 CDT (15 January 2026) |
|---|---|
| New York | 12:00 pm |
| London | 5:00 pm |
| Paris | 6:00 pm |
| Dubai | 9:00 pm |
| Mumbai | 10:30 pm |
| Tokyo | 2:00 am |
| Sydney | 4:00 am |
| Los Angeles | 9:00 am |
The table is worked out from the offsets: 12:00 CDT is 5:00 pm UTC, and each city's local time is UTC plus its own offset. The half-hour cities are the ones to watch: Mumbai is 30 minutes past the hour, because India is on UTC+05:30. The UTC converter does this calculation for any city and any date.
CDT and CST
CDT (UTC−05:00) and CST (UTC−06:00) are the same places at different times of the year: CDT is the summer time and CST is the winter time. They differ by exactly one hour, and the change happens twice a year — forward in spring, back in autumn. A time written with the wrong one is an hour wrong, which is why you should always write the offset as well as the abbreviation: '3pm CDT (UTC−05:00)'. See what is CST for the other half of the pair.
CDT through the year
Whether CDT is in effect in each month of 2026, for Chicago:
| Month | CDT in effect? | Offset in effect |
|---|---|---|
| January | No | UTC−06:00 |
| February | No | UTC−06:00 |
| March | Yes | UTC−05:00 |
| April | Yes | UTC−05:00 |
| May | Yes | UTC−05:00 |
| June | Yes | UTC−05:00 |
| July | Yes | UTC−05:00 |
| August | Yes | UTC−05:00 |
| September | Yes | UTC−05:00 |
| October | Yes | UTC−05:00 |
| November | No | UTC−06:00 |
| December | No | UTC−06:00 |
CDT is in effect for part of the year and not for the rest — the table shows exactly which months. The change happens on the clock-change dates, not on the first of a month, so a month that straddles a change (March or October/November) is on one offset at the start and the other at the end. The UTC converter shows the offset in effect on any date.
What time is it when it is 09:00 CDT?
Nine in the morning is the start of the working day, so it is the time that matters for meetings. When it is 09:00 CDT on 15 January 2026, the time in eight major cities is:
| City | Local time at 09:00 CDT |
|---|---|
| New York | 9:00 am |
| London | 2:00 pm |
| Paris | 3:00 pm |
| Dubai | 6:00 pm |
| Mumbai | 7:30 pm |
| Tokyo | 11:00 pm |
| Sydney | 1:00 am |
| Los Angeles | 6:00 am |
CDT and UTC, worked both ways
Converting from CDT to UTC: subtract the offset. 09:00 CDT is 2:00 pm UTC, and 15:00 CDT is 8:00 pm UTC. Converting from UTC to CDT: add the offset. 12:00 UTC is 7:00 am CDT, and 18:00 UTC is 1:00 pm CDT. If the result crosses midnight, the date changes: 6:00 pm is the time in CDT when it is 23:00 UTC, and if that is past midnight it is the next day. The UTC converter does both directions for any time and any date.
Common mistakes with CDT
The commonest mistake is using CDT for the wrong season: writing EST in July, when New York is on EDT, or writing EDT in January, when it is on EST. The second mistake is forgetting the place: EST means different things in North America (UTC−05:00) and Australia (UTC+10:00), and CST means different things in North America (UTC−06:00), China (UTC+08:00) and Cuba (UTC−05:00). The fix for both is the same: write the offset with the abbreviation, and check the date. The time zone converter shows the offset for any city on any date, so there is no need to guess.
Frequently asked questions
What does CDT stand for?
Central Daylight Time. It is UTC−05:00 from UTC, and it is used in North America, in Chicago, Dallas, Houston.
What is the UTC offset of CDT?
UTC−05:00. That means CDT is 5 hours behind UTC: when it is 12:00 UTC it is 7:00 am CDT.
When is CDT used?
In summer, during daylight saving — in 2026, from the spring clock change to the autumn clock change. In winter the same places use the standard time instead.
What cities use CDT?
Chicago, Dallas, Houston. CDT is the summer time of the Central Time Zone, in effect from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November.
How do I convert CDT to my time?
Convert CDT to UTC first — subtract UTC−05:00 — then add your own offset. Or use the UTC converter: enter the time in CDT and it gives the time in any city.
Is CDT the same as CST?
No. CDT and CST are the same places in different seasons, one hour apart. CDT is UTC−05:00 and CST is UTC−06:00.
What time is it in CDT now?
The UTC converter shows the current time in CDT live — it is UTC plus UTC−05:00. Because CDT is only in effect for part of the year, the converter shows the offset in effect today, not the one in effect in another season.
Related pages
Sources
- IANA Time Zone Database, via Node.js Intl (
Intl.DateTimeFormatwithtimeZone) — offsets, daylight saving dates and local times in this article were worked out from the IANA database, not typed from memory. - TimeFlow's own time-zone data (
data/cities.ts,data/dst.ts), computed from the IANA database. - Time zone rules and offsets: the IANA Time Zone Database, as applied by this site's tools. Offsets on this page are computed from the database for the dates stated.
- TimeFlow's UTC converter and time zone converter — the live tools behind the numbers on this page.
- Time-zone and daylight saving rules are set by governments and can change. For flights, deadlines and meetings that cannot move, confirm the time with an official source.