First day of spring 2017 officially arrives early Monday
It's the day warm weather fans have been waiting months for: Monday is the first day of spring!
Spring officially arrives at 6:28 a.m. EDT (3:28 a.m. PDT) Monday, when the sun will be directly over the equator, marking the spring (aka vernal) equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere. For the folks down under in the Southern Hemisphere, it will be the first day of autumn.
The word equinox is derived from two Latin words: aequus (equal) and nox (night), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It's one of two days out of the year — the other being the autumnal equinox in September — when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a "nearly" equal amount of daylight and darkness almost everywhere on Earth.
It's also one of only two days each year that almost every spot on Earth — except the poles — experiences a sunrise at due East and a sunset at due West.
As for when the warm weather will finally be here to stay, the official forecast for April through June from the Climate Prediction Center calls for warmer-than-average temperatures for almost the entire nation, including Alaska.
Why is Monday considered spring? The vernal equinox, explained
Here in the northern hemisphere, spring in the form of the vernal equinox is scheduled to start Monday at 6:29 a.m. Although there’s still snow on the ground and cold weather in the forecast, one can’t deny the new season has arrived.
Meteorologists start spring after the coldest 90 days of the year, so we began it on March 1st. But astronomical spring arrives when the sun reaches a certain height over the equatoreach year. This is typically what most folks celebrate as spring’s arrival.
While nearly everyone knows spring arrives around March 20, what’s actually occurring in terms of the relationship between the earth and the sun still isn’t universally understood.
On both the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the sun will be directly overhead at noon at some place along the equator of our planet. This year, the first of these two occurrences happens at 6:29 a.m Eastern Standard Time on March 20. Basically, if you were in central Africa and looked up at noon, the sun would be directly above your head, forming a 90-degree angle with the ground. On Friday, Sept. 22, at 4:02 p.m., the same thing will occur at a different spot along the equator to begin the fall season.
Just before sunrise, the sun is even with the horizon and then rises during the day, reaching the maximum height exactly between sunrise and sunset. The highest point the sun will reach around Boston on Monday is about 48 degrees above the horizon. This angle will continue to increase until the first day of summer, when it’s at about 71 degrees. From then on it falls, reaching a minimum of 24 degrees as winter begins. Other places on the planet have different maximum heights. There’s always someplace where the sun is directly overhead, but it only occurs exactly at the equator on the equinox.
Down at the South Pole this week, the sun will go from being above the horizon all the time to being just below. As the days go on, it will become progressively darker until it’s pitch black for many months. The opposite is occurring at the North Pole.
The word “equinox” is derived from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” While nearly all spots on Earth have about 12 hours of darkness and light as spring begins, it’s not exact. You can see from the chart below, depending on where you live on the planet, the day on which you have equal day and night shifts on the calendar. Multiple factors cause this, including the shape of the planet and the way the sun’s light is bent as it passes through the atmosphere.
In a world in which many of us are overextended and stressed, the fact that the planet is spinning around a tilted axis at over 1,000 miles per hour can be lost. As spring arrives Monday, take a moment to ponder the changes occurring, and how the increase in light and strength of the sun will soon be melting the snow, warming the earth, and bringing about that magical and dramatic metamorphosis to our landscape known as spring.
Spring officially arrives at 6:28 a.m. EDT (3:28 a.m. PDT) Monday, when the sun will be directly over the equator, marking the spring (aka vernal) equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere. For the folks down under in the Southern Hemisphere, it will be the first day of autumn.
The word equinox is derived from two Latin words: aequus (equal) and nox (night), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It's one of two days out of the year — the other being the autumnal equinox in September — when the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a "nearly" equal amount of daylight and darkness almost everywhere on Earth.
It's also one of only two days each year that almost every spot on Earth — except the poles — experiences a sunrise at due East and a sunset at due West.
As for when the warm weather will finally be here to stay, the official forecast for April through June from the Climate Prediction Center calls for warmer-than-average temperatures for almost the entire nation, including Alaska.
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| A girl looks at the flowers of a tree in bloom in Washington, D.C., March 9, 2017, as spring rolls around. (Photo: Daniel Slim, AFP/Getty Images) |
Why is Monday considered spring? The vernal equinox, explained
Here in the northern hemisphere, spring in the form of the vernal equinox is scheduled to start Monday at 6:29 a.m. Although there’s still snow on the ground and cold weather in the forecast, one can’t deny the new season has arrived.
Meteorologists start spring after the coldest 90 days of the year, so we began it on March 1st. But astronomical spring arrives when the sun reaches a certain height over the equatoreach year. This is typically what most folks celebrate as spring’s arrival.
While nearly everyone knows spring arrives around March 20, what’s actually occurring in terms of the relationship between the earth and the sun still isn’t universally understood.
On both the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the sun will be directly overhead at noon at some place along the equator of our planet. This year, the first of these two occurrences happens at 6:29 a.m Eastern Standard Time on March 20. Basically, if you were in central Africa and looked up at noon, the sun would be directly above your head, forming a 90-degree angle with the ground. On Friday, Sept. 22, at 4:02 p.m., the same thing will occur at a different spot along the equator to begin the fall season.
Just before sunrise, the sun is even with the horizon and then rises during the day, reaching the maximum height exactly between sunrise and sunset. The highest point the sun will reach around Boston on Monday is about 48 degrees above the horizon. This angle will continue to increase until the first day of summer, when it’s at about 71 degrees. From then on it falls, reaching a minimum of 24 degrees as winter begins. Other places on the planet have different maximum heights. There’s always someplace where the sun is directly overhead, but it only occurs exactly at the equator on the equinox.
Down at the South Pole this week, the sun will go from being above the horizon all the time to being just below. As the days go on, it will become progressively darker until it’s pitch black for many months. The opposite is occurring at the North Pole.
The word “equinox” is derived from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” While nearly all spots on Earth have about 12 hours of darkness and light as spring begins, it’s not exact. You can see from the chart below, depending on where you live on the planet, the day on which you have equal day and night shifts on the calendar. Multiple factors cause this, including the shape of the planet and the way the sun’s light is bent as it passes through the atmosphere.
In a world in which many of us are overextended and stressed, the fact that the planet is spinning around a tilted axis at over 1,000 miles per hour can be lost. As spring arrives Monday, take a moment to ponder the changes occurring, and how the increase in light and strength of the sun will soon be melting the snow, warming the earth, and bringing about that magical and dramatic metamorphosis to our landscape known as spring.
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