Spring is starting with more wild extremes
Randy Mann.
JAKE PARRISH/Press
The astronomical spring began Friday, March 20, at 7:46 a.m. Pacific Time. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, we have the four seasons because the earth is tilted on its axis by approximately 23.5 degrees. As we move into April and May, the daylight hours become noticeably longer and during the summer, our planet is tilted toward the Sun resulting in longer daylight hours and a higher sun angle.
During the equinoxes, the first day of spring and the first day of fall, our planet is positioned on the orbital plane where it is not tilted toward or away from the sun. The equinox means that the Earth will experience 12 hours of day and night. However, the reason the times are not exactly 12 hours apart on the first day of spring and fall are complex. Our location in a particular time zone, elevation, and the fact that the sun is not a singular point in space are some of the explanations.
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