While it's felt like spring for a while now, it’s finally here! Today is the official start to astronomical spring. If you’re wondering how it all works, here is a quick and easy read on it.
Astronomical spring or otherwise known as the Vernal Equinox officially occurs at 10:49 CDT tonight. Equinox is Latin for “equality of night (and day)”. Vernal means fresh or new similar to spring. Moreover, the March or Vernal Equinox marks when the Northern Hemisphere begins to tilt toward the sun.
This of course brings more sunshine and longer days into summer. As the northern hemisphere tilts toward the sun, the southern hemisphere tilts away.
The equinox occurs twice a year. The Vernal Equinox and the Autumn Equinox. Once in spring and the other in fall. From now on, days will continue to get longer as we approach the summer solstice.
You also may have heard that it is the earliest start to spring we've seen in a long time. This is true. Typically, astronomical spring begins on March 20th or March 21st. This year it is slightly earlier. Why is that?
To sum it up, it has to do with Daylight Saving Time and more about Leap Year. While 2020 is a leap year, that is not the year that affected this small shift. The year 2000 was the year that knocked it back a day.
Remember, leap year have a couple rules. Every 100 years, we SKIP a leap year. However, we DO NOT skip that particular leap year if that year is divisible by 400. For example, the years 1700, 1800, 1900, we skipped those leap years. We didn't acknowledge them. However, since the year 2000 is divisible by 400, we did not skip it. This is what is responsible for the early spring. The last time this occurred was back in 1896.
Spring is also the start of severe storm season. Strong upper level systems from the west interact with high humidity from the Gulf of Mexico. Torrential rainfall, flooding, hail, tornadoes, straight line winds and more. The weather is starting to shift as we head into spring.
