What time is it in Zulu right now?

The clock at the top of this page shows the current Zulu time to the second, with the date. Zulu time is the same everywhere on Earth, so it does not depend on where you are.

Is Zulu time 4 or 5 hours ahead of Eastern time?

Both, depending on the date. During daylight saving time, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, Eastern time is UTC−4 and Zulu is 4 hours ahead. The rest of the year Eastern is UTC−5 and Zulu is 5 hours ahead. The chart on this page switches between the two.

How do I convert Zulu time to local time?

Add your UTC offset to the Zulu time. At UTC−7, 1500Z is 8:00 AM. If the result goes past midnight in either direction, the date changes as well. The converter does this for any time zone, including the daylight saving rules for the date you pick.

How do I convert my local time to Zulu?

Type the local time into the Local box, pick your time zone, and read the Zulu box. By hand, subtract your UTC offset: 3:00 PM Central Daylight Time (UTC−5) is 2000Z.

Is Zulu time the same as UTC and GMT?

For every practical purpose, yes. UTC is the atomic time standard, GMT is the older name based on the Greenwich meridian, and Zulu is what aviation and the military call UTC. 1200Z, 12:00 UTC and 12:00 GMT are the same moment.

Does Zulu time change for daylight saving time?

No. Zulu never changes. Your offset to it does, which is why the same local time is a different Zulu time in summer and winter.

What does 0000Z mean?

0000Z is midnight UTC, the start of the day in Zulu. In the United States that is the evening before: 8:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time or 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. 2359Z is one minute before the next Zulu day.

Why do METARs, NOTAMs and TFRs use Zulu time?

Because they are read by people in many time zones. A single clock removes any doubt about which local time was meant, and it is not affected by daylight saving. The FAA, the National Weather Service and ICAO all publish aviation times in UTC.

Yes. There is no account to create and nothing to install. The clock and the conversions run in your browser, and anything you paste stays on your device.

Zulu time now, and a converter

The current UTC clock, Zulu to any time zone and back, and a reader for the times in a METAR, TAF or NOTAM. No signup.

Zulu time nowLive

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Your time

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Following the clock. Type a time to stop it.

Zulu

0000Z · 010000Z · said “zero zero hundred Zulu”

⇄

Local

12:00 AM UTC · UTC±0 · Thu Jan 1

Date

Time zone

0000Z elsewhere

Read the times in a METAR, TAF or NOTAM

Try:

Zulu to US time

Zulu	EasternEST	CentralCST	MountainMST	ArizonaMST	PacificPST	AlaskaAKST	HawaiiHST
0000Z	7:00 PM−1d	6:00 PM−1d	5:00 PM−1d	5:00 PM−1d	4:00 PM−1d	3:00 PM−1d	2:00 PM−1d
0100Z	8:00 PM−1d	7:00 PM−1d	6:00 PM−1d	6:00 PM−1d	5:00 PM−1d	4:00 PM−1d	3:00 PM−1d
0200Z	9:00 PM−1d	8:00 PM−1d	7:00 PM−1d	7:00 PM−1d	6:00 PM−1d	5:00 PM−1d	4:00 PM−1d
0300Z	10:00 PM−1d	9:00 PM−1d	8:00 PM−1d	8:00 PM−1d	7:00 PM−1d	6:00 PM−1d	5:00 PM−1d
0400Z	11:00 PM−1d	10:00 PM−1d	9:00 PM−1d	9:00 PM−1d	8:00 PM−1d	7:00 PM−1d	6:00 PM−1d
0500Z	12:00 AM	11:00 PM−1d	10:00 PM−1d	10:00 PM−1d	9:00 PM−1d	8:00 PM−1d	7:00 PM−1d
0600Z	1:00 AM	12:00 AM	11:00 PM−1d	11:00 PM−1d	10:00 PM−1d	9:00 PM−1d	8:00 PM−1d
0700Z	2:00 AM	1:00 AM	12:00 AM	12:00 AM	11:00 PM−1d	10:00 PM−1d	9:00 PM−1d
0800Z	3:00 AM	2:00 AM	1:00 AM	1:00 AM	12:00 AM	11:00 PM−1d	10:00 PM−1d
0900Z	4:00 AM	3:00 AM	2:00 AM	2:00 AM	1:00 AM	12:00 AM	11:00 PM−1d
1000Z	5:00 AM	4:00 AM	3:00 AM	3:00 AM	2:00 AM	1:00 AM	12:00 AM
1100Z	6:00 AM	5:00 AM	4:00 AM	4:00 AM	3:00 AM	2:00 AM	1:00 AM
1200Z	7:00 AM	6:00 AM	5:00 AM	5:00 AM	4:00 AM	3:00 AM	2:00 AM
1300Z	8:00 AM	7:00 AM	6:00 AM	6:00 AM	5:00 AM	4:00 AM	3:00 AM
1400Z	9:00 AM	8:00 AM	7:00 AM	7:00 AM	6:00 AM	5:00 AM	4:00 AM
1500Z	10:00 AM	9:00 AM	8:00 AM	8:00 AM	7:00 AM	6:00 AM	5:00 AM
1600Z	11:00 AM	10:00 AM	9:00 AM	9:00 AM	8:00 AM	7:00 AM	6:00 AM
1700Z	12:00 PM	11:00 AM	10:00 AM	10:00 AM	9:00 AM	8:00 AM	7:00 AM
1800Z	1:00 PM	12:00 PM	11:00 AM	11:00 AM	10:00 AM	9:00 AM	8:00 AM
1900Z	2:00 PM	1:00 PM	12:00 PM	12:00 PM	11:00 AM	10:00 AM	9:00 AM
2000Z	3:00 PM	2:00 PM	1:00 PM	1:00 PM	12:00 PM	11:00 AM	10:00 AM
2100Z	4:00 PM	3:00 PM	2:00 PM	2:00 PM	1:00 PM	12:00 PM	11:00 AM
2200Z	5:00 PM	4:00 PM	3:00 PM	3:00 PM	2:00 PM	1:00 PM	12:00 PM
2300Z	6:00 PM	5:00 PM	4:00 PM	4:00 PM	3:00 PM	2:00 PM	1:00 PM

Zulu is UTC

Zulu, UTC, GMT and a plain Z all name the same clock, the one at 0° longitude.

Aviation and the military call UTC “Zulu” because Z is the letter for the zero-offset time zone, and Zulu is how you say Z over the radio.

One shared clock means a flight plan, a weather report and a controller in three different time zones all mean the same moment.

It never changes

There is no daylight saving on Zulu. Only your side of the conversion moves, twice a year.

Eastern time is 4 hours behind Zulu from March to November and 5 hours behind the rest of the year. Arizona and Hawaii do not change their clocks, so their offset is fixed.

That is why a time written in Zulu is safe to put in a log, a NOTAM or an authorization: nobody has to ask which local time you meant.

How to read it

0800Z is “zero eight hundred Zulu”. 141730Z puts the day first: the 14th at 17:30 UTC.

A METAR stamps its observation as DDHHMMZ. A TAF adds a validity period like 1418/1524, day 14 at 18:00 to day 15 at 24:00. A NOTAM writes the start and end as YYMMDDHHMM, ten digits, in UTC.

LAANC authorizations and TFRs show UTC too. Paste any of them into the reader above and every time group comes back in your zone.

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