Spring Starts Today All Over America, Which Is Weird
Spring begins at 11:50 p.m. ET on March 19 this year. It is the earliest nationwide vernal equinox since 1896. Why, you ask? Get ready for orbital mechanics and a lot of information about calendars.
Spring begins today in America. Good.
Perhaps you are mildly surprised to learn that March 19 is the first day of spring. Perhaps you learned as a child that the spring equinox — when day and night are roughly the same length — occurs on either March 20 or March 21.
Indeed, the equinox has historically fallen on one of those dates. This is the first time in 124 years the first day of spring has occurred on March 19 nationwide, irrespective of time zone — even the graphics on the National Weather Service's website have yet to catch up with the new reality.
So, how did we end up with
