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Live Doppler 13 Weather Blog: First day of meteorological spring

It's the first day of meteorological spring — the three transitional months in between the three coldest months of the year and the three warmest.

INDIANAPOLIS — March 1 marks the first day of meteorological spring. It runs through May 31 and includes the three transitional months in between the three coldest months of the year and the three warmest.

Meteorological seasons are different from the astronomical seasons in order to simplify statistics and record-keeping by grouping together three months at a time based on our annual temperature cycle starting on the first day of the month.

Credit: WTHR

Astronomical seasons are based on the Earth's orbit around the sun. The Earth is tilted, on average, at 23.5° from the plane of its orbit around the sun. As the Earth moves along an elliptical orbit around the sun, the sun's alignment over Earth's equator determines solstices and equinoxes.

Since the Earth's orbit around the sun actually takes 365.2422 days, constant variations in the astronomical seasons occur making it difficult to track climatological data.

Credit: WTHR

The vernal (spring) equinox can occur from March 19-21. This year it will happen on March 20 at 5:37 a.m. EDT. An equinox occurs when the sun is directly over the equator and will lead to most areas receiving nearly equal daylight and dark hours.

The latest forecast calls for a warm first few weeks of meteorological spring with a 60% chance of above-average temperatures (average highs range from 48-51°) from March 8-14.

Credit: WTHR

We're also under a 40% chance of above-average precipitation from March 8-14.

Credit: WTHR

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