The official beginning of spring across the northern hemisphere will arrive this Friday, March 20th at 5:44 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time. This is known as the vernal equinox and it marks the moment when the Suns overhead position crosses the Equator during its northward progression at this time of year. As you have likely noticed the days have been getting longer since December and now the amount of daylight exceeds the amount of night, with the amount of daylight currently increasing by about 2 1/2 minutes each day at this latitude. That rate of increasing daylight will begin to decrease as springtime progresses, and will come to a stop at the summer solstice, which will occur on June 20th.
The name "equinox" is derived from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night), because around the Equinox, nighttime and daytime are approximately equal in length.
March 20 will likewise mark the first day of fall across the southern hemisphere.
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