Happy Spring!

Today at 5:24pm (EDT) it is officially the start of spring called the Vernal Equinox.

If you live in the Northeast US you may have been surprised this morning to think that spring was almost upon us.  The temperature this morning was actually in the 20’s!  

Temperatures in the 20’s are not warm!  Fast forward to the afternoon and it has warmed up considerably so maybe there is something to the seasons changing now.

What exactly is the Vernal Equinox?

The Vernal Equinox is when the amount of day and night are almost exactly equal.  You can look for about 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness today.  Today the sun rose at 7:25am and it will set at approximately 7:32am.

The great thing about the beginning of spring is that each day you will notice more daylight incrementally.  This continues until the summer solstice on June 21 (at 10:58am EDT).

Astronomical times or Meteorological times?

You may already know that the times listed for the beginning of the seasons above are actually astronomical times.  These dates and times are based on the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun.

On the other hand, if you are thinking about seasons starting on the 1st of the month (March 1, June 1, September 1 and December 1) these are meteorological times.  

You can chalk this up to meteorologists and climate scientists wanting an easy way to keep track of weather and weather patterns each year.

Private Home Health Care knows that we could still get a snow storm in the Vernal Equinox but for today let’s celebrate this new season.

#SpringBegins