The calendar says spring begins March 20 with the vernal equinox, but “meteorological” or “climatological” spring starts three weeks earlier.
The transition seasons are the three months in between winter and summer, so meteorological spring runs from March 1 to May 31 and meteorological fall runs from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30.Splitting the seasons into these nearly equal three-month periods makes seasonal recordkeeping much easier since the start and end dates of the seasons are always the same. Additionally, each meteorological season is always 90 to 92 days, depending on whether it’s a leap year.
According to meteorological seasons, which differ from the traditionally used astronomical seasons, Spring should technically begin on March 1st.The dates of the solstices and equinoxes can vary by a day or two each year, so an apples-to-apples comparison of seasonal temperatures or precipitation would become a nightmare for our friends at the National Weather Service if they didn’t use meteorological seasons.
This year, astronomical spring officially begins March 20 with the vernal equinox at 5:24 p.m. EDT. That’s simply the precise moment in time when the sun will be in direct alignment with the equator. Therefore, everywhere on Earth will experience an equal 12 hours of day and night on that date. Since the Earth is tilted approximately 23.5 degrees off a vertical axis, the most direct sunlight is aimed at the Northern Hemisphere during our astronomical summer. That means the days will continue to grow longer through the spring until the summer solstice on June 21. Thereafter, the days will turn shorter until the winter solstice on Dec. 21 because the most direct sunlight shifts into the Southern Hemisphere during our astronomical winter.
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