Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Welcome Spring 2012

Spring has officially arrived for the Northern Hemisphere. Today also known as the Vernal Equinox arrived at 1:14 a.m and marks when the length of day and night are about equal. Some people  try to balance a raw egg on the equinox, which happens two times a year. Did you try it? The other equinox is in September.

With the warm temperatures these past few weeks, it had already begun to feel like Spring. The 2011-21012 winter (wait, what winter?) for much of the United States was above average. In fact this winter is the 4th warmest winter on record since 2000. This map is from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), shows the usual regional ranks for temperatures during this past 'winter'.

  Many plants and trees have already started blooming weeks before their normal blooming time. Many around the region before the start of Spring.  I was in DC this past weekend and saw that much have the Cherry Blossoms have bloomed, which is early for this time of the year. I snapped a few shots of them, they are really beautiful trees:



Spring you kicked Winter to the side and made your presence known. For much of the United States, this was weeks ago, yet now we can officially welcome you. So welcome Spring!