It’s the earliest spring equinox we’ve had since 1896, with spring officially arriving at 10:06 p.m. Tuesday.
What is the vernal (spring) equinox? Well, it all has to do with the tilt of the earth. That’s the driving force behind our seasons. During the vernal equinox, Earth is neither tilted toward or away from the sun, giving us nearly equal daylight in the northern and southern hemisphere.
This also means that it’ll be warming up. That’s not to say we can’t get some good cold fronts, even into April, but the average temperature will start to take some big jumps. It also means that storms will be making more appearances in South Texas. We could even see a few strong storms later this week on Thursday.
FOLKLORE
There is some folklore, passed down through the years, that surrounds the equinox. That includes the idea that you can balance an egg on the equinox. Technically, you can balance an egg anytime — it’s difficult no matter when you do it. But, the equinox has nothing to do with it. And remember the broom craze from several years back? That, too, has nothing to do with the equinox.
WHAT’S AHEAD
Starting Tuesday night, the northern hemisphere will begin to tilt towards the sun. This, as you might imagine, warms us up. The southern hemisphere, conversely, will head into fall and cool down as it tilts away from the sun. With cold air still lingering up north, and the warming we just mentioned, a battle zone sets up across the United States. The two competing air masses will clash in the form of storms and severe weather. Our severe weather season typically lasts into late May. The average high in San Antonio on March 19th is 75°. By the end of spring, our average high jumps up to 93°.
SUMMER SOLSTICE
The summer solstice, when the northern hemisphere reaches it’s peak tilt toward the sun, occurs on June 20th. Due to lag, San Antonio’s warmest average temperatures occur in August.
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