Last week, a powerful storm tore through Colorado, causing massive power outages and downed trees. The extreme weather led to more than a dozen atomic clocks at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder being temporarily taken offline. As a result, the official U.S. time standard experienced an unexpected disruption.
The system responsible for keeping precise time in the country is called UTC(NIST). Although it is closely linked to the international time standard, it is not identical. On the day the storm hit, NIST’s backup generator was unable to handle the load, leaving part of the equipment without power. Consequently, the official U.S. time slowed by 4.8 microseconds—a difference imperceptible to humans but crucial for high-precision systems.
Technical details
The NIST lab operates over twenty atomic clocks, primarily hydrogen masers and cesium standards. Typically, ten to fifteen of these devices are used simultaneously to maintain official time. All are connected to a multi-level measurement system capable of detecting even the smallest frequency deviations.
At the moment of the accident, the clocks themselves continued to operate thanks to built-in batteries. However, the connection between some devices and the central time measurement and distribution system was disrupted. This caused a temporary loss of synchronization.
Impact on Infrastructure
Although the delay amounted to just a few microseconds, the consequences could have been much more serious. Modern telecommunications networks, GPS navigation systems, and other critical facilities rely on absolute time accuracy. Even the slightest deviation can cause equipment failures, disrupt data synchronization, and lead to calculation errors.
According to experts, such incidents are extremely rare, but they clearly show how vulnerable even the most reliable technological systems are to the forces of nature and technical failures.
Restoring Operations
After the effects of the hurricane were eliminated, power supply to the laboratory was fully restored. The engineering team promptly carried out diagnostics and returned the system to normal operation. All timing deviations were corrected, and the official time standard was once again synchronized with global benchmarks.
NIST emphasizes that such situations are thoroughly analyzed to prevent recurrence in the future. Options are already being considered to upgrade backup power systems and increase equipment resilience to external impacts.
Significance for Science and Technology
The precision atomic clocks used at NIST not only set the country’s official time, but also contribute to shaping the global time standard. Their data is taken into account when calculating Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), making their operation particularly significant for international scientific and technical projects.
Malfunctions in such systems can impact a wide range of sectors—from financial markets to air traffic control. Ensuring their uninterrupted operation is therefore a top priority for experts worldwide.
If you didn’t know, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is the leading U.S. scientific organization responsible for developing and maintaining measurement standards, including time and frequency. The Boulder laboratory is considered one of the world’s most advanced facilities for atomic clock precision and reliability. NIST data is used not only domestically, but also in international time synchronization systems.
