Welcome to the first day of spring—what to know about the equinox
Reading time: 2 minutes
In the past week, Alabama has seen 80-degree sunny days, severe storms and yes, even snow. So obviously, that meant spring was closing in.
There’s never predictable weather in this state but that might be most true during the spring. And Friday, March 20 marks the official start to the season.
The Spring, or vernal, Equinox happened at 9:46AM, officially kicking off “astronomical spring” while “meteorological spring” started March 1.
Keep reading to learn more about the equinox + how it impacts Alabama.
Spring Equinox 2026
There are two equinoxes each year—one at spring and one at fall. The start of the winter and summer seasons are called solstices.
During a equinox, the sun is directly overhead at the equator at noon.
“The ‘nearly’ equal hours of day and night are due to refraction of sunlight or a bending of the light’s rays that causes the sun to appear above the horizon when the actual position of the sun is below the horizon. Additionally, the days become a little longer at the higher latitudes (those at a distance from the equator) because it takes the sun longer to rise and set.”
National Weather Service
So what does that mean for us?
Well between now and the summer solstice on June 21, every day will get a little bit more sunlight. It will amount to roughly 14 minutes per week.
On March 20, the sun will be out from 6:50AM until 6:58PM, totaling just a few minutes over 12 hours. But by June 20, the sun will be out 14 hours and 22 minutes.
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