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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Happy 1st Day Of Spring - The Earliest Vernal Equinox In Over 100 Years!


There's a big debate between the StormWatch7 meteorologists on the date of the "official" start to Spring. Some of us think it's the first day of March, which is the meteorological start to the season - when all of the weather and climate data for Spring begins. Other members of the team say it is the date of the vernal equinox. What do you think? Take the poll on WJLA.com.

Regardless of your thoughts, the vernal equinox arrived earlier this morning at 1:14 AM. It's the earliest start to spring since 1896! One of the reasons for the early start to the season has to do with the leap year. If it wasn't a leap year, spring would start on March 21st. The equinox occurs at the point when the sun crosses the celestial equator from South to North. Here's a way to visualize this:

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has anyone seen how foggy it is this morning? Wicomico county is the only county with no fog delay. Mr Fredrickson is more concerned with the MSA testing then he is the safety of our children.

Anonymous said...

Spring is one day early this year because of global warming.