The first day of Spring is March 20th or the vernal equinox when both day and night are equal in length. This is when the sun passes the equator heading north for the year. Spring starts at
7:44 am. Despite what legend you might have heard, eggs do not balance on end any more easily than at any other time. Go ahead and try it!
Weather wise, spring means a transition from cold air to more warm and humid air. During spring, we get a lot of instability in the atmosphere. This occurs as warm air tries to push up from the south and cold air from the north still occasionally invades us as the polar jet stream retracts. As we get more hours of sunlight, the surface of the earth is allowed to heat up while the upper levels of the atmosphere are still rather cold. This creates an unstable atmosphere which can lead to severe weather. Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes occur more often in the spring months than during the rest of the year.
So, while spring means that daylight will outlast darkness, flowers will blossum and new life will spring, don't forget about extreme weather! Be on the lookout.
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