Category: Solstice

Spring really starts this Thursday

Four large white and red parachutes are fully deployed above a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splashing into the water.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore land in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida,  March 18, 2025 after an unpredictably long nine months at the International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA/Keegan Barber

We’re celebrating Spring, a good time to applaud the two astronauts’ return to Earth and the change of seasons.

It’s OK to be confused. Those of us recently told to “Spring forward” might have thought our weather was about to change along with our moving one-hour-ahead time.

For many of us in the Midwest it did. We didn’t get much flower and crop growing rain. But we experienced some warmer temps. Strangely enough they came every other day as if Mother Nature was trying to balance the seasonal changes in weather.

Well, now that we are actually checking our phone or2025 paper calendar we see that Spring is marked as happening on Thursday, March 20. Why?

In the Northern Hemisphere Spring is tied to the March Vernal Equinox. That is when the Sun crosses the middle of the equator moving from south to north. It is also the first day of Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

In Chicago, Illinois, that happens at 4:01 am CDT, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Corresponding UTC is at 09:01.)

Remember that Meteorological Spring started on March 1 and runs through May 31 every year no matter the timing of the vernal equinox.

For more information visit Spring Time and Date and Farmers’ almanac Spring

BTW March 2025 may be remembered more as the month our two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station finally returned to Earth in time to celebrate the first day of Spring.

 

 

 

When summer starts

NASA graphic of Summer Solstice I(Photo courtesy of NASA.Gov
NASA graphic of June/December Solstice (Photo courtesy of NASA.Gov)

When do you think summer starts? Is it when school ends or weather turns warm enough to swim outdoors? Or it could be when your local meteorologist announces astronomical summer.

In the Northern Hemisphere the Summer (June) Solstice is June 21 in the year 2023. 

Take advantage of the June Solstice, also called the Summer Solstice. It is the longest day and shortest night and this year. So, there is more daylight to work in the yard, take long walks, eat dinner out on the patio or just enjoy summer. Just remember to use sunscreen.

The Old Farmers’ Almanac says the actual solstice moment comes at 10:58 a.m. EDT.

For its meaning, think Latin sol for sun and sistere for standing still. IKt certainly stands still in the Arctic Circle which won’t get dark because the sun won’t set there. Think Midnight Sun.

Earth/Sky, The Farmer’s Almanac and Space explain the long day relates to the sun’s angle to the Equator and is the farthest north of the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere.

NASA explains the long day is due to the tilt of the Earth and has a graphic showing the angle. 

Of course, such a momentous time of year has related folklore. Most of those events come under the title Midsummer. 

That may sound as a misnomer, but the June Solstice marking the beginning of the season is a starting point that is usually marked a few days later with Midsummer celebrations. It’s when many northern cultures such as Sweden, Finland and Ireland historically celebrated the time with rituals, visits to Stonehenge, and religious occasions. 

Maybe hold your own Midsummer celebration. Check Travel Sweden for how they do it and their Midsummer dates.