"Sprinter"
Calendar spring is on the calendar. What is it? There are actually two observations of spring.
Shaking your head yet? Relax…
The first observation of spring began March 1. It is known as meteorological spring. That’s based on dividing the annual calendar into three month seasons based on temperatures. Meteorological spring ends May 31.
My personal preference is astronomical spring.
Astronomical spring begins on one of three dates: March 19, 20 or 21. The date depends on the earth’s orbit in relation to the sun. Another name for this spring is the vernal equinox. On the equinox the earth’s axis is tilted nearly equally between the northern and southern hemispheres. That means length of day is approximately equal to the length of darkness. In the northern hemisphere where this blog is being written the day length is 12 hours and 9 minutes.
Hooray! More daylight today than darkness!
Now for reality. If you live in the northern hemisphere north of 40 degrees latitude the predominant color outside your window is white. Most of the earth still has snow on it. Snow means winter. Right?
Partly.
When the vernal or spring equinox arrives, the earth has tilted on its axis towards the sun in the northern hemisphere. Big deal…right.
YES! When the northern hemisphere begins to tilt towards the sun there is more radiant energy. More radiant energy means warmer temperatures and absolutely greater melting of snow.
Don’t be impatient. Right winter dwellers have experienced snow since last November. By this time a change is needed. Patience.
It’s already started.
Physical events are happening. Earth tilt in the north increases slightly every day once the calendar reads March 19, 20 or 21.
Look at it this way. In the north there are variations of spring. We could call this time cold spring. Need a name for it?
“Sprinter”
The old Creator Words guy talks about spring…