First day of Spring is almost here; on Tuesday, March 19, the vernal equinox, which marks the formal start of the season in the Northern Hemisphere, occurs.
The spring equinox of 2024 will happen on Tuesday at precisely 11:06 p.m. EDT. However, why is today the first day of spring and why is it limited to the Northern Hemisphere?
WHAT IS EQUINOX???
The vernal and autumnal equinoxes are the only two that occur annually. They produce almost equal amounts of day and night in a 24-hour period when the sun is directly overhead at noon. The Latin terms aequus and nox, which mean equal night, are the source of the word equinox itself.
Typically, it occurs on March 19, 20, or 21. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, a spring equinox on March 21 is unusual. For the entire 21st century, there hasn’t been one in the continental United States, and that number won’t rise until 2101.
The National Centers for Environmental Information state that a calendar year is 365 days, although Earth travels around the sun every 365.24 days, which is one reason why the date varies.
SPRING STARTS IN SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE??
September is the start of spring in the Southern Hemisphere and the start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the March equinox will bring later sunrises, earlier sunsets, colder winds, and dry, dropping leaves. In contrast, Tuesday’s equinox in the Northern Hempisphere will bring with it later sunsets, earlier sunrises, milder winds, and sprouting plants.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPRING EQUINOX AND METEOROLOGICAL SPRING?
Although March 19 is the date of the 2024 vernal equinox, meteorological spring really arrived at the beginning of the month. Meteorological and astronomical seasons are the two categories of seasons identified by NASA.
Based on the annual temperature cycle, meteorological seasons are based on calendar dates. Three-month intervals make up the meteorological seasons. Meteorological spring occurs annually between March 1 and May 31.
The tilt of Earth’s axis and the planet’s location throughout its orbit around the sun determine the astronomical seasons. For more details click..