Spring is here! And it snowed on the drive to work this morning. Well, we are in Nebraska. So, if it doesn’t feel like spring, what about today makes us welcome the new season rain, snow or shine? Great Plains Communications has looked to our cable channel, History Channel for some clarity.
On March 20 or 21 of each year, we experience the vernal equinox, which ultimately signals the start of spring for the Northern Hemisphere. So, what is an equinox you ask? As we know, the Earth orbits the sun and tilts at an angle on its axis, then throughout the year different areas get sunlight for different amounts of time. “An equinox occurs at the moment when the Earth’s axis doesn’t tilt toward or away from the sun,” the History Channel explains. “Someone standing on the equator on an equinox can observe the sun passing directly overhead.” Six months after the spring equinox, a second equinox occurs each year around September 22 or 23 in the Southern Hemisphere. Equinoxes are the only times a year that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west for every location.