UTC-8 is commonly described as UTC-8. UTC-8 is a fixed offset. Pacific Time in Los Angeles is UTC-8 in standard time and UTC-7 in daylight time.

Use the location when it is available

For code and stored preferences, prefer America/Los_Angeles over an abbreviation or a bare offset. An IANA timezone carries the historical and daylight-saving rules for a region. An offset tells you only the difference from UTC at one moment.

Convert an epoch value

A Unix timestamp is already an instant. To show it in this timezone, keep the numeric value unchanged and format it with the selected IANA name. The clock display may change; the event does not.

const date = new Date(1700000000 * 1000);

const text = new Intl.DateTimeFormat("en-US", {
  dateStyle: "medium",
  timeStyle: "medium",
  timeZone: "America/Los_Angeles",
}).format(date);

Scheduling note

When a meeting or job is defined by local wall-clock time, store the IANA timezone with the schedule. When it is a one-time event, store the resulting UTC instant or Unix timestamp. That distinction keeps daylight-saving changes from becoming surprise reschedules.

Timezone ConverterEpoch to DateDate to EpochUTC Time

Frequent questions:

Q: What time is it in UTC-8 right now?
A: The live UTC-8 clock at the top of this page updates every second. North American Pacific Time matches UTC-8 only during winter (roughly November to mid-March); outside that window the same region is UTC-7.
Q: Is UTC-8 the same as PST?
A: PST (Pacific Standard Time) is UTC-8, but only during winter on the US/Canada west coast. From mid-March to early November the same region shifts to PDT (UTC-7). For a year-round UTC-8 anchor use Pacific/Tahiti or Etc/GMT+8.
Q: Is UTC-8 the same as GMT-8?
A: Yes — both refer to 8 hours behind the zero meridian and are interchangeable in everyday usage. In code, prefer UTC.
Q: How do I convert UTC-8 to a Unix timestamp?
A: Add 8 hours to the wall-clock time, then take the seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00 UTC. See the code examples above for one-liners.
Q: Why does my America/Los_Angeles timestamp not match UTC-8 in July?
A: Because in July the West Coast is on Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7), not UTC-8. America/Los_Angeles auto-switches between PST and PDT — use Etc/GMT+8 if you want a permanently fixed UTC-8.