Today is the day of the Vernal Equinox, which means it is the official first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, it marks the official first day of Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. In astronomical terms, the Vernal Equinox marks the time when the axis of our planet increases its bend towards the Sun. In the Northern Hemisphere this causes the days to have longer daylight hours and the temperatures to grow warmer.
Spring has always been a welcomed sign of renewal. The grass begins to become greener, the trees bud new leaves and flowers spring up from the ground and bloom. The birds are hatching eggs and all kinds of animals are giving birth to their young.
This year, Spring has a very special significance. In 2016, Spring is arriving earlier than usual! Normally, Spring arrives on March 21, but this year it arrives a whole day earlier! As a result this is the earliest Spring has arrived in 120 years, since 1896! Therefore, it is safe to say that no one alive today has seen Spring arrive a whole day earlier than usual.
This special circumstance of an earlier than usual Spring has to do with the fact that 2016 is a leap year and how our Gregorian calendar works. I explained the precise workings of the Gregorian calendar and leap day in depth, in my recent blog post “What Is Leap Day & This Day in History”.
Now that you are versed with this unusual fact about the early arrival of the first day of Spring (or Autumn for those in the Southern Hemisphere) go out and dazzle your friends and family with your brilliance! 😉
Nice post and cute pictures! Here in Canada it’s still pretty cold, but finally sunny. Can’t wait for some warm weather.
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I love it when it’s spring, I can’t stand the cold unless I’m in snow haha!
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It’s definitely supposed to be the first day of Spring but the weather seems to think otherwise – we have been in the 70s and 80s for the last couple of weeks and today it dropped to the 40s! Mother Nature needs to get her act together… lol
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Yes, we had quite the same experience here, as well, Alex! lol
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I can’t wait for it to actually feel like the first day of Spring here! We saw snow this morning, however we will be facing some 70 degree spring weather this week! Great post!
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I love Spring shame it’s still so cold where I am it feels like winter 😦 Love the pictures!
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Winter decided to not leave just yet! It’s been cold here this weekend! lol
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Beautiful photos. Here in the tropics is heard to know whether it’s winter, summer or spring because of the weather pattern.
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I think I would very much like your tropical area. I much prefer hot weather over cold weather! 🙂
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Great article. Its starting to cool down in South Africa and our winter season is approaching.
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Its still hot here in New Zealand and its Autumn. Really need rain here. Great post, love the photos 😉
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Happy first day of spring!!! ❤ great post! love the blog
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I live in a tropical country with only two seasons. I have seen what spring looks like though in other countries and can understand the feeling when spring comes.
By the way, the photos are gorgeous!
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A tropical country sounds divine to me! I live in south Texas, so we don’t have dramatic season changes like the northern states, but I don’t mind. Truthfully, I could totally live without any cold weather at all! 🙂
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I was laying out on the trampoline with my kids yesterday, looking up at the trees and all the tiny little new growth is starting to show up. Love this time of year, all things new!
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You got the cutest pictures ever and I’m a bit jealous of that ( smiling ) Happy first day of the spring my friend
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Ohhh those fluffy animals are simple too cute!!!! I thought spring was here but this weekend it turned really cold again. I’m hoping the coming week will bring warmer temperatures 🙂
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We had been having lovely warm weather here until it turned much colder late Friday night. The last couple of days has been much cooler than what the weather recently has been. Winter just don’t want to let go yet!
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I love spring so much; the energy, the flowers, happy people all around ! 😀 Love the pictures you choose for this post !!
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Interesting information. I did not know about quite a bit of it. I loved the pictures too.
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Spring looks fun! And those are great photos! 😁
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I am not complaining that spring has arrived early! I love spring; its my favorite season 🙂
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