Happy Vernal Equinox, more commonly known as the First Day of Spring!

This year, the Vernal Equinox takes place at 11:06pm ET on Tuesday, March 19.

The Vernal Equinox occurs when the sun’s light is equally shining on both the North and South Hemispheres. This means neither the North Pole nor the South Pole are pointed towards the sun, and the sun’s rays are directly over the equator.

On the day of the equinox, the length of day and night anywhere in the world is roughly the same. However, the true date of “equal daylight equal nighttime” occurs on the equilox -- the Latin phrase for “equal light” -- which takes place a few days before the Spring Equinox.

The animation below illustrates the solar terminator, and how it changes through the seasons according to NOAA.

First Day of Spring in Atlanta: What to Expect

The Vernal Equinox lands very late on Tuesday, March 19 this year, and the average daytime high in Atlanta on this date is 67 degrees; the average morning low is 46 degrees.

The warmest daytime high on March 19 occurred in 1982, when thermometers reached 85 degrees. The coldest morning low occurred on this date in 1892, when thermometers dropped to 17 degrees.

The old adage “Wait for Spring Planting until After Easter” usually works -- but this year, Easter is early! With the holiday taking place on March 31, it may be too early to be reliable as a “rule of thumb”.

Instead, it is best to wait until after April 15, or Tax Day. After this date, there is a rather small chance that a killing freeze will impact the Metro Atlanta region.

The climatological average last spring freeze for Atlanta is March 21, based on the period-of-record that spans back to 1870. The latest spring freeze occurred on April 25, 1910.

Morning temperatures will moderate for the rest of this week, and afternoon temperatures will vary between the upper 50s to low 70s for the next few days.

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