Good Friday evening my friends! This is teenager meteorologist Zachary Veal here talking about this Sunday’s change of seasons, as we walk out of Winter 2022 and welcome the first few days of Spring 2022. So, let’s get going!

Now, I bet that you get extremely excited about the Spring Equinox every year bringing us out of winter and officially starting the season of spring. But what exactly is the spring equinox? And does an equinox happen at the start of every season? Well, let’s talk about that!

First, let’s get into the equinox, which actually occurs just twice a year (0nce in the Spring and once in the fall or autumn). The word equinox comes from Latin and means “equality of night and day.” So, the equinox occurs at two specific moments in time when the sun is exactly above the equator (contrary to popular belief, the equinox doesn’t last for 24 hours).

Now, let’s talk about the dates of our two equinoxes. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Spring, or the Vernal Equinox happens around March 21st, when the Sun moves north across the celestial equator. And the Autumnal Equinox occurs around September 22nd, when the sun crosses the celestial equator going south. But if you want to be truly egalitarian, opt for saying both the March Equinox and the September Equinox instead. After all, in the Southern Hemisphere, the month of March represents the start of both Autumn and Spring comes along in the month of September!

But all in all, whether you are celebrating either Spring or Autumn, or maybe even both, the March Equinox represents an interesting moment in our latest journey around the Sun.

And finally, as I leave you with this thought, if you are wondering when this year’s Spring or Vernal Equinox is, well it is this Sunday (March 20th, 2022) at 11:33 a.m. ET.! So, there you have it! That’s the story of both when Spring for us starts and also, the meaning or definition behind what the Spring or Vernal Equinox actually is.

Take care folks until we meet the next time!

Zachary Veal, your world’s best teenager meteorologist.