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A spring start?



Technically, spring in the Northern Hemisphere begins on the March 20 vernal (spring) equinox. But does it really?

The term equinox means equal night – that is, the day and the night are equally 12 hours. In reality, the equinox is not always on March 20, but it varies from year to year between March 19-21. It is typically the changing of the seasons between winter and spring in the Northern Hemisphere and between summer and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

However the date of March 20 as the first ‘official’ day of spring is not universally agreed. Meteorologically, spring is defined by annual temperature cycles and therefore begins on March 1.

Today, March 20 the maximum is forecast to be 7C (45F) with a little rain and the minimum is forecast at minus 2C (28F). Not quite spring!





https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/03/18/astronomical-spring-starts-sunday-five-myths-about-the-vernal-equinox/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_vernalequinox729pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).


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