WSET.com - ABC13Spring Begins by Matt Ferguson

Spring Begins by Matt Ferguson

While this past winter was not very snowy, it was definitely a cold one. December through mid February afternoon temperatures only managed the 20s and 30s. With this said, I think many of you are looking forward to the upcoming spring-like weather. Spring actually begins Sunday, March 20th at 7:21pm.

You may be wondering how scientists give an exact time for the start of spring. This is when the equinox occurs, meaning the sun's strongest rays are shining directly on the equator. Equinox comes from a word in Latin (aequus), meaning a day that is equally divided by 12 hours of night and 12 hours of daylight. This is not exactly true for everyone around the globe, but is pretty close to an equally divided 24 hour period for most locations.

So what causes the warmer weather to begin developing this time of year? Right now the sun's strongest rays are directly over the equator, but that changes in time. As we continue through the next few months, the earth making its revolution around the sun begins to tilt toward the sun -  the Northern Hemisphere that is. With the continuation of stronger sunshine strength, temperatures in our part of the world begin to rise. Therefore in Central Virginia normal high temperatures at the beginning of spring go from the upper 50s to near 80 by the first day of summer. 

With the increasing amount of daylight minutes each day and the progressively stronger sunshine warmth, spring brings nature's beauty. As we always expect, in the weeks ahead, flowers of many kind bloom and the leaves return to trees. This is great, but for some of you who have allergies, this is not your favorite time of year. However, it will not last too long. Across our region, the worst of the pollen is over by late May.

Now that spring is here, let's enjoy!