diff --git a/tools/divide_recipe.R b/tools/divide_recipe.R
index ceb696f44a1a7979c9bc5a94a522413157a13976..a9218ab6aac61fee5c789e542a98ea5e44eaf252 100644
--- a/tools/divide_recipe.R
+++ b/tools/divide_recipe.R
@@ -171,10 +171,13 @@ divide_recipe <- function(recipe) {
       if (nchar(recipe$Analysis$Time$sdate[sdate]) == 4) {
         sdate_weekday <- DAYS_OF_WEEK[[tolower(recipe$Analysis$Time$week_day)]]
         days <- as.POSIXlt(paste(recipe$Analysis$Time$sdate[sdate],
-                           1:366, sep="-"), format="%Y-%j")
+                           1:366, sep = "-"), format = "%Y-%j")
         day_of_the_week_ini <- days[days$wday == sdate_weekday]
       } else if (nchar(recipe$Analysis$Time$sdate[sdate]) == 8) {
-        day_of_the_week_ini <- recipe$Analysis$Time$sdate[sdate]
+        day_of_the_week_ini <- as.POSIXct(as.character(recipe$Analysis$Time$sdate[sdate]),
+                                          format = "%Y%m%d",
+                                          origin = '1970-01-01',
+                                          tz = 'UTC')
       } else {
         stop("what other cases can exist in subaseasonal?")
       }