In the graph below you see the time zone difference between Central Daylight Time and Mountain Standard Time. Drag the bubble to adjust the time and to see the corresponding time in the other time zone.
Central Daylight Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as most of Central America when observing daylight saving time in the summer, including cities like Winnipeg, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Mexico City. Mountain Standard Time is the time zone of the US and Canadian states around the Rocky Mountains when observing daylight saving time in the summer, with places like Edmonton, Calgary, Denver and Salt Lake City.
Usually it is preferable to schedule meetings any time from the morning for the person in CDT and any time from the morning for the person in MST.
More CDT conversions
CDT to CET, CDT to BST, CDT to MDT, CDT to EST, CDT to IST
More MST conversions
MST to EST, MST to IST, MST to PST, MST to CST, MST to GMT
Central Daylight Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as Mexico and most of Central America. It is five hours behind UTC and is observed during the summer months, between March and November. Sometimes the zone is referred to as CDST – Central Daylight Saving Time Zone. In the winter CDT becomes CST – Central Standard Time.
CDT is observed in the US, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras i.e. all Central American countries. In the US it is only the states in the central US that observes CDT, from Wisconsin in the West to Tennessee in the East, and from Michigan in the North to Florida in the South. Similarly, only Canadian provinces in the middle of the country observe CDT. All of Mexico observes CDT, except the North West corner of the country.
US: Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois and many more.
Canada: Manitoba, Ontario (most parts), Saskatchewan (only Creighton and Denare Beach)
Mexico: Chiapas, México, Oaxaca, Yuca tán, San Luis Potosi and more.
CDT is the daylight saving time of Central Standard Time. There are only a handful of exceptions in this time zone that do not observe DST, so it is advisable to always check the exact location (e.g. using our time zone converter) instead of relying on time zone abbreviations.
Mountain Standard Time is observed in the Western part of central US and Canada, as well as the North West corner of Mexico. It is 7 hours behind UTC and turns into MDT in the summer. The name Mountain Time comes from it covering the Rocky Mountains in Western United States. In Mexico, this time zone is known as Zona Pacifico (Pacific Zone).
Mountain Time is observed in parts of Canada, the US and Mexico. The only province in Canada to be fully covered by MST is Alberta whereas other provinces like British Columbia and Northwest Territories are split between MST and PST.
In the US, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming are all observing Mountain Time but there is also a bunch where part of the state observe MST and part another time zone, like CST or PST.
In Mexico, it is only the states in the north western corner of the country, including Baja California, Sinaloa and Chihuahua that observe MST.
The largest city observing MST is Phoenix, followed by Denver and El Paso/Juarez.
Aside from Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora, all other locations do observe DST, turning MST into MDT – Mountain Daylight Time. Given this, and the fact that not entire states observe the same time zone, it is always recommended to use a good time zone converter to convert specific locations’ times.