Meteorological spring has arrived. Here s what to expect AccuWeather 3/1/2021 Brian Lada
Finally, spring is here. Well, sort of. March 1 marks the first day of meteorological spring, but astronomical spring - which is more widely regarded as the start of the season - is still about three weeks away.
Meteorologists recognize spring as spanning March, April and May for consistency s sake in weather record-keeping and also based on temperature trends in the U.S. Astronomical spring will officially begin at the vernal equinox, which will occur at 5:37 a.m. EST on March 20, 2021. The Earth s elliptical orbit around the sun and other factors like leap year can affect the start date and length of astronomical seasons, making it more difficult to compare one season to the next. And the weather in March can be quite the weather roller coaster for many regions of the country, but warmer air typically starts reaching southern areas this month.
A major thaw is forecast for the recently winter-bombarded south-central United States, where millions of Americans have been struggling to stay warm this past week.