DENVER (KDVR) — Along with changing the clocks, it’s also the time of year when the use of Mountain Daylight Time and Mountain Standard Time switches.

With every digital meeting scheduled in Colorado, the time will either have (MDT) or (MST) at the end. But the abbreviation is more than just telling others that the meeting is set to mountain time.

Technically, the abbreviations are used for different times of the year.

The first is Mountain Daylight Time, which is used when it’s daylight saving time. The other is Mountain Standard Time, which is Colorado’s official time zone.

MDT is used from March 12 to Nov. 5. During this time, it’s considered daylight saving time. The clocks are set back, so the sun sets at a later time.

From Nov. 5 to March 12, MST is used as Colorado is in its standard, or “normal,” time zone. So, Colorado is currently in MST.

The concept of Daylight Time and Standard Time are the same throughout the country, but vary based on geographic areas. For example, Pacific (PST and PDT) and Eastern (EST and EDT) times are used based on which coast you are on.

There are only two states in the country that do time differently. Arizona and Hawaii opted out of daylight saving time, so their clocks never change. Thus, the two states are always in standard time.

While Colorado wants to switch so the state is always in daylight saving time, federal law prevents states from doing that.