Spring Equinox 2022 Falls On Sunday: What To Know

CALIFORNIA — Spring has sprung! Sunday, March 20 marks the spring, or vernal, equinox, one of two days of the year when there are exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness everywhere on Earth. In fact, “equinox” is the Latin word for “equal night.” Just like the same occasion in September marks the official start of autumn, the vernal equinox - from the Latin for “spring” or “green” - marks the official start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

During an equinox, the sun’s rays shine directly onto the equator. Normally, the earth’s axis is tilted at an angle from the sun, but on Sunday, the axis will be tilted neither toward nor away from the sun.

This marks the start of longer and warmer days for the Northern Hemisphere, and colder and shorter days for the Southern Hemisphere. The exact moment the rays shine will occur Sunday at 8:33 a.m. PDT. The sun will rise higher and higher into the sky until the Summer Solstice on June 21, when the earth’s northern poles have a maximum tilt toward the sun.

In addition to marking the first official day of spring, the vernal equinox has been celebrated in a number of ways throughout history:

• Christian churches traditionally calculated Easter as the first full moon on or after the equinox, a practice that is still used in Eastern Orthodox churches.
• Similarly Passover is calculated as the first full moon after the equinox.
• Thousands of people visit Teotihuacán, an ancient Mesoamerican pyramid near modern-day Mexico City. Often dressed in white with a red scarf or accessory, the pilgrims, dance, burn incense, and climb the pyramid with arms outstretched toward the sun.
• Nowruz, or Iranian New Year, begins on the equinox.
• In many Arab countries, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the spring equinox.
• In Japan, Vernal Equinox Day is an official national holiday that is spent visiting family graves and holding family reunions.
• World Storytelling Day, a global celebration of oral storytelling, is celebrated on the equinox.
• International Astrology Day is celebrated on the equinox, which is the full first full day of Aries.
• In Annapolis, Maryland, sailboat owners celebrate the equinox with a “Burning of the Socks” festival to celebrate the start of warmer weather.

In Southern California in 2022, the start of spring will be marked by a slew of summer-like temperatures. Around the Southland, temperatures will be in the low 70s on Sunday, and climb to the mid-80s by the middle of the week.