Spring officially starts tonight at 10:49pm. It feels like we have had spring weather for the last few weeks in this area. On the first day of Spring the sunrise and sunset are about 12 hours apart, everywhere on the Earth and the hours of daylight and night are almost equal. Daylight is a little longer. This is the first time in 124 years the first day of spring has occurred on March 19 nationwide. We are celebrating the earliest nationwide March 19 equinox since 1896. Next year, the spring equinox will return to March 20 in much of the country (it moves 6 hours later each year). But spring will begin on March 19 every leap year for the rest of this century, and the time of the spring equinox in non-leap years will move earlier and earlier. By the end of the century, the spring equinox will fall on March 19 most years.
A few facts about Spring: 1.The fall and spring equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west. 2.The first day of spring is called the vernal equinox. The term vernal is Latin for “spring” and equinox is Latin for “equal night.” 3. Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. 4. Every year, allergies constitute over 17 million outpatient office visits, mostly in the spring and fall. 5.If Pope Gregory XIII would not have established the Gregorian calendar, which most of the world now observes, in 1582, then every 128 years the vernal equinox would have come a full calendar day earlier, eventually putting Easter in midwinter.
