diff --git a/geomagio/TimeseriesUtility.py b/geomagio/TimeseriesUtility.py
index 418bbe9c17a04b903d83a8906b133eefb37f48ce..1c64c522f2db6b7a294ba025f673932e12a17a17 100644
--- a/geomagio/TimeseriesUtility.py
+++ b/geomagio/TimeseriesUtility.py
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ def create_empty_trace(
     trace_starttime = obspy.core.UTCDateTime(
         numpy.ceil(starttime.timestamp / delta) * delta
     )
+    if delta > 60.0:
+        trace_starttime += (delta - 60) / 2
     stats.starttime = trace_starttime
     stats.delta = delta
     # Calculate number of valid samples up to or before endtime