Spring Equinox 2020: All You Need To Know About The Earliest Spring In 124 Years

Well, here’s some good news for you amidst the coronavirus outbreak – spring is coming earlier this year than it has since 1896. The spring equinox or vernal equinox, which marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere will fall on Thursday this year i.e. 19 March, 2020. This is earlier than any equinox in the last 124 years. The equinox usually falls on March 20 or 21.

"The complicated reasons for 2020's earlier equinox involve leap years, centuries and the length of time it takes Earth to revolve around the sun," CBS News said. According to the astronomy reference book, Astronomical Table of the Sun, Moon and Planets, the equinox will occur on Thursday night at 11:49 p.m. EDT (0349 GMT on March 20).

Why does the Spring Equinox happen?

This happens because of the tilt of the Earth in relation to the Sun. This is what causes the change in season. During the summer time, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, so we get longer days as more light falls on this part of the planet. In the winter time it's the Southern Hemisphere that gets the majority of the light. On the spring equinox, the Earth hits the turning point in its orbit where neither the North nor the South poles are tilted towards the sun.

On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world. With the equinox, enjoy the increasing sunlight hours, with earlier dawns and later sunsets. First, daytime begins the moment any part of the Sun is over the horizon, and it is not over until the last part of the Sun has set. 

AccuWeather Meteorologist Danielle Knittle said the length of seasons can slightly vary, so meteorologists have created their system to keep things "consistent" by recognizing spring on March 1 every year. The beginning of meteorological spring is based on average temperature cycles. "The meteorological seasons were created to compare statistics from year to year since astronomical spring -- and seasons in general -- is associated with the position of the sun in relation to Earth and can vary slightly from year to year," Knittle said.