When is official spring

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Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Ad Choices. We respect your privacy! Thematic Books. November 12, When is the first day of spring ? Fun Spring coloring pages. Spring Worksheets and Printables. Thematic Reading List - Kids Books.

Spring Crafts and Activities. Note: The dates above correspond to the start of the listed seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. Times are based on Eastern time ET. Subtract 3 hours for Pacific time, 2 hours for Mountain time, 1 hour for Central time, and so on.

As the Earth progresses through its orbit during the year, the tilt causes different parts of the Earth to be exposed to more or less sunlight, depending on whether we are tilted towards or away from the Sun.

You may have noticed that the first day of spring used to be a different date when you were younger than it is today. The dates actually shift over time. Specifically, it eliminates leap days in century years not evenly divisible by , such , , and , and millennium years that are divisible by 4,, such as and Therefore, the dates of the equinoxes and solstices can shift by a day or two over time, which causes the start dates of the seasons to shift over time, too.

It can sometimes feel like winter is dragging on forever, but did you know that its actually the shortest season of the year? In the Northern Hemisphere, that is. In January, we reach the point in our orbit nearest to the Sun called perihelion , and in July, we reach the farthest point aphelion. Read more about perihelion and aphelion. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this results in a shorter fall and winter, since we are moving faster through space during that time of the year.

Conversely, when Earth is farthest from the Sun, it travels more slowly, resulting in a longer spring and summer. The opposite is true in the Southern Hemisphere. In other words, it takes Earth less time to go from the autumnal equinox to the vernal equinox than it does to go from the vernal equinox to the autumnal equinox.

What defines each season? Below is a brief explanation of the four seasons in order of calendar year. For more information, link to the referenced equinoxes and solstices pages. On the vernal equinox , day and night are each approximately 12 hours long with the actual time of equal day and night, in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring a few days before the vernal equinox.

The Sun crosses the celestial equator going northward; it rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west. See our First Day of Spring page. On the summer solstice , we enjoy the most daylight of the calendar year. The Sun reaches its most northern point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere at local noon. See our First Day of Summer page. On the autumnal equinox , day and night are each about 12 hours long with the actual time of equal day and night, in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring a few days after the autumnal equinox.

The Sun crosses the celestial equator going southward; it rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west. See our First Day of Fall page. The Sun reaches its most southern point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere at local noon. See our First Day of Winter page. For most of my life, Fall was my favorite season, for all the reasons people stated in previous comments.

Spring, with the returning sunlight and length of daylight, is an optimistic version of Fall. Autumn is by far my most favorite season because the air is crisp, the heat from the summer has passed and I can ride my horse more! I love to bake, so the Thanksgiving season is one of my most active times to bake.

My second favorite is winter because my favorite holiday is Christmas. I love the lights and the music, and I love getting together with friends and family to celebrate. My third favorite is spring because as winter wears on, I do start to want to be warm again!

I also love when all the flowers start to bloom. My least favorite season is summer because it is so darn hot! I feel like I drag my way through summer because it stops my energy. Of course any season should be my favorite, because I am just very glad to be alive! I was hopng to learn how the seasons became radically different over the course of the centuries. In times past, Spring began on February 2nd, Candlemas.

Summer began on May 1st, and June 24th was Midsummer Day. Fall begins with the Autumnal Equinox, Sunday, September 22, , a. Winter begins with the Winter Solstice, Saturday, December 21, , a.

Summer begins with the Summer Solstice, Friday, June 20, , p. Fall begins with the Autumnal Equinox, Monday, September 22, , p. Winter begins with the Winter Solstice, Sunday, December 21, , a.