Thursday Marks Official Start Of Spring
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Thursday Marks Official Start Of Spring
It's official - spring finally arrived Thursday across the Northern Hemisphere.
Reporter: Keith Cavey
Email Address: keith.cavey@kwtx.com
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(March 20, 2008)--Thursday marked the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.

The season officially began at 12:48 am Central Daylight Time Thursday, the time of the Vernal Equinox.

That's one of the two times in a calendar year that the sun shines directly over the Equator.

The other occurs on the Autumnal Equinox, also known as the first day of fall.

Contrary to popular belief, the equinox does not result in an equal length of day and night.

Because of the sun's diameter and atmospheric refraction, locations near the equator will have about 15 minutes more sunlight than shade.

The day can be up to half an hour longer at the poles.

The first day of spring has special significance to Iranians.

It marks a traditional festival called "Nowruz", which is the beginning of the new year in the Iranian calendar.

The holiday is celebrated by people in Iran, Afghanistan, and other countries in the Middle East.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Tom on Mar 20, 2009 at 01:29 PM

Better double check your figures. Spring started at 6:48 CDT. It started at 11:48 GMT and CDT is GMT -5
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