Converting UTC (AWS EC2) to PST in Python

In this article, we’ll show you how to convert Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to Pacific Standard Time (PST) using Python. We’ll use the datetime module in the Python standard library to perform this conversion.

Read more: Python Tutorial

Understanding UTC and PST

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is a global standard time reference, independent of time zones, used to coordinate global schedules. It is a time system based on atomic clocks and accurate to the nanosecond level.

Pacific Standard Time (PST) is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and is primarily used to refer to the time on the west coast of the United States. Due to the US government’s Daylight Saving Time (DST), the actual time used may vary.

Time Zone Conversion Using Python’s datetime Library

Python’s datetime library provides various functions for working with dates and times, including time zone conversion. We can use this library to convert UTC time to PST time.

First, we need to import the datetime module:

import datetime

Then, we can use the datetime module’s datetime class to create an object representing UTC time:

utc_time = datetime.datetime.utcnow()

Next, we need to specify the time zone offset from Pacific Standard Time. This can be done by creating a timedelta object. In the case of PST, the offset is -8 hours:

from datetime import timedelta

pst_offset = timedelta(hours=-8)

Now, we can add the UTC time and the time zone offset to get the PST time:

pst_time = utc_time + pst_offset

Finally, we can use the strftime method to format the PST time into the desired string format:

formatted_pst_time = pst_time.strftime(“%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S”)

print(“PST time:”, formatted_pst_time)

This way, we’ve successfully converted UTC time to PST time.

Complete Example

The following is a complete example demonstrating how to convert UTC time to PST time:

import datetime
from datetime import timedelta

utc_time = datetime.datetime.utcnow()
pst_offset = timedelta(hours=-8)
pst_time = utc_time + pst_offset
formatted_pst_time = pst_time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")

print("UTC time:", utc_time)
print("PST time:", formatted_pst_time)

Running the above code will produce output similar to the following:

UTC time: 2022-01-01 12:00:00
PST Time: 2022-01-01 04:00:00

Summary

In this article, we’ve shown how to convert Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to Pacific Standard Time (PST) using Python. By using the functions in Python’s datetime module, we can easily perform time zone conversions. Understanding and mastering these techniques will help you handle time conversions between different time zones. I hope this article is helpful!