I just found out that the exact moment spring begins in the United States this year has already passed. It was on March 20 at 10:46 AM Eastern Time. Interestingly, it doesn't always fall on the same date; it can vary between March 19 and 21 depending on the year. Basically, spring in the United States begins when the Sun crosses the equator, and day and night are roughly the same length.

From that point, daylight hours gradually increase until June. The Northern Hemisphere spring lasts about 92 days, so it ends around June 20 or 21 when summer begins. The odd thing is that there are two ways to count it: the astronomical (based on Earth's orbit) and the meteorological (following the Gregorian calendar). The astronomical definition is what everyone mentions when spring begins in the United States, but meteorological spring already started on March 1.

Additionally, there's Groundhog Day on February 2, which has its own prediction. This year, Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil projected his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter. It's strange that we have these different criteria for marking the start of spring, isn't it?