Spring started a little earlier than usual this year.
Tuesday, March 19th, 11:06pm (ET) According to the National Weather Service, this day marked the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, when the sun was directly above the equator and its energy was balanced between the northern and southern hemispheres.
Most years, the season usually changes on March 20th or 21st. So why did spring start a few hours earlier in 2024?
First day of spring 2024
The first day of spring was March 19th, 2024 is a leap year. Leap years are caused by the rotation of the Earth. A year is her 365 days, but technically it takes the Earth a little more time to orbit the sun.
According to NASA, it takes the Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, or 365.2422 days, to orbit the sun. Most years, these extra hours are removed from the calendar. But every four years; 1 day added in February The calendar and seasons are never out of sync. If this does not happen, the extra hours will add up over time and the seasons will begin to change.
These leap years cause the first day of spring to start earlier than usual.
2020 is also a leap year, first day of spring This day was also March 19th, and the vernal equinox was at 11:50 p.m. Earliest first day of spring since 1896.
However, that was broken on the vernal equinox in 2024. Spring started even earlier, at 11:06 PM ET, so all time zones in the continental United States saw the first day of spring on the 19th. 10:06 PM Central Standard Time, 9:06 PM Mountain Standard Time, 9:06 PM Mountain Standard Time, 9:06 PM Eastern Standard Time. 6pm Pacific Time.
In the next leap year, 2028, spring will begin again on March 19th. And every leap year until 2103, the beginning of spring will be earlier and earlier on March 19th.
According to the National Weather Service, in 2025, which is not a leap year, the vernal equinox will be on March 20th at 5:01 a.m. EDT, and in 2026 it will be March 20th at 10:46 a.m. EDT.
What is the vernal equinox?
Seasons are marked by either the equinoxes or solstices, and because the Earth rotates, different parts of the Earth are more or less exposed to the sun as it orbits the star throughout the year.
Spring and autumn are marked by the vernal equinox, which in Latin means “equal nights.” According to NASA, on the vernal equinox, the sun passes directly over the equator, resulting in 12 hours of daylight and approximately the same amount of night.
In the northern hemisphere, the vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring, while in the southern hemisphere, the autumnal equinox marks the arrival of autumn in that region.
The Northern Hemisphere's autumnal equinox typically occurs on September 22nd or 23rd.
During the solstice, which separates summer and winter, the Earth reaches its maximum angle on its axis. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice usually occurs on June 20th or 21st, as this region of the Earth is tilted toward the sun. The opposite happens on the winter solstice on December 21st or 22nd.
meteorological spring
To make matters even more confusing, meteorologists follow different systems for seasons. For the weather forecaster, spring begins on March 1st. This is because this is usually when the weather starts to feel more like spring in most areas. Meteorological summer begins on June 1st, meteorological autumn begins on September 1st, and meteorological winter begins on December 1st.
Using this method, the length of the seasons is more uniform. All years except leap years have 90 to 92 days, the NWS explains.
However, the astronomical seasons that follow the equinoxes and solstices are not so uniform. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, spring has 92.771 days, summer has 93.641 days, fall has 89.834 days, and winter has 88.994 days.
