Index: examples/wflow_rhine_sbm/wflow_sbm.ini
===================================================================
diff -u -r0a7244d3fd5a8ff367e028431f5c372bd6643b4a -r54d5ebe9f713a1e1647a642ca924e17c98523693
--- examples/wflow_rhine_sbm/wflow_sbm.ini	(.../wflow_sbm.ini)	(revision 0a7244d3fd5a8ff367e028431f5c372bd6643b4a)
+++ examples/wflow_rhine_sbm/wflow_sbm.ini	(.../wflow_sbm.ini)	(revision 54d5ebe9f713a1e1647a642ca924e17c98523693)
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
 [run]
 # either a runinfo file or a start and end-time are required
 #runinfo=runinfo.xml
-starttime= 1995-01-31 00:00:00
-endtime= 1995-02-28 00:00:00
+starttime= 1995-01-31 00:00:00 GMT
+endtime= 1995-02-28 00:00:00 GMT
 # required, base timestep of the model
 timestepsecs = 86400
 #start model with cold state
Index: wflow-py/notebooks/BMI-Test.ipynb
===================================================================
diff -u -rc95c3dacc1ec27b93f99809af8275caa5c93cb1d -r54d5ebe9f713a1e1647a642ca924e17c98523693
--- wflow-py/notebooks/BMI-Test.ipynb	(.../BMI-Test.ipynb)	(revision c95c3dacc1ec27b93f99809af8275caa5c93cb1d)
+++ wflow-py/notebooks/BMI-Test.ipynb	(.../BMI-Test.ipynb)	(revision 54d5ebe9f713a1e1647a642ca924e17c98523693)
@@ -9,11 +9,19 @@
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": null,
+   "execution_count": 3,
    "metadata": {
     "collapsed": false
    },
-   "outputs": [],
+   "outputs": [
+    {
+     "name": "stdout",
+     "output_type": "stream",
+     "text": [
+      "Populating the interactive namespace from numpy and matplotlib\n"
+     ]
+    }
+   ],
    "source": [
     "import wflow.wflow_bmi as bmi\n",
     "import logging\n",
@@ -36,7 +44,7 @@
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": null,
+   "execution_count": 4,
    "metadata": {
     "collapsed": false
    },
@@ -60,13 +68,23 @@
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": null,
+   "execution_count": 5,
    "metadata": {
     "collapsed": false
    },
-   "outputs": [],
+   "outputs": [
+    {
+     "name": "stdout",
+     "output_type": "stream",
+     "text": [
+      "86400\n",
+      "791506800.0\n"
+     ]
+    }
+   ],
    "source": [
-    "print(LA_model.get_value(\"timestepsecs\"))\n"
+    "print(LA_model.get_value(\"timestepsecs\"))\n",
+    "print LA_model.get_start_time()"
    ]
   },
   {
Index: wflow-py/wflow/wf_DynamicFramework.py
===================================================================
diff -u -rc95c3dacc1ec27b93f99809af8275caa5c93cb1d -r54d5ebe9f713a1e1647a642ca924e17c98523693
--- wflow-py/wflow/wf_DynamicFramework.py	(.../wf_DynamicFramework.py)	(revision c95c3dacc1ec27b93f99809af8275caa5c93cb1d)
+++ wflow-py/wflow/wf_DynamicFramework.py	(.../wf_DynamicFramework.py)	(revision 54d5ebe9f713a1e1647a642ca924e17c98523693)
@@ -584,11 +584,14 @@
         else:
             self.logger.warn("Not enough information in the [run] section. Need start and end time or a runinfo.xml file.... Reverting to default date/time")
     else:
-        self.datetime_firststep=datetime.datetime.strptime(st, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+        from dateutil import parser
+        #self.datetime_firststep=datetime.datetime.strptime(st, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+        self.datetime_firststep=parser.parse(st)
         self.currentdatetime = self.datetime_firststep
         self._userModel().currentdatetime = self.currentdatetime
         ed = configget(self._userModel().config,'run','endtime',"None")
-        self.datetime_laststep = datetime.datetime.strptime(ed, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+        #self.datetime_laststep = datetime.datetime.strptime(ed, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+        self.datetime_laststep=parser.parse(ed)
         self.timestepsecs = int(configget(self._userModel().config,'run','timestepsecs',"86400"))
         self._userModel().timestepsecs =  self.timestepsecs
         duration = self.datetime_laststep - self.datetime_firststep