AccuWeather Global Weather Center – March 1, 2022 – Meteorological spring has sprung across the Northern Hemisphere, giving people weary of snow and cold a reason to rejoice, although the changing of the seasons does not necessarily mean the end to wintry weather.
March 1 is the first day of meteorological spring, a season that runs through the end of May each year. This is different from astronomical spring, which starts on the March equinox and ends on the June solstice, two astronomical events that occur at different times every year due to Earth’s elliptical orbit around the sun. This year, the equinox occurs at 11:33 a.m. EDT on Sunday, March 20, and the solstice takes place at 5:13 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 21.
The consistency of meteorological seasons makes it easier for forecasters to compare one season to those of years past than it is with astronomical seasons.
February featured a reprieve from the bitterly cold winter weather for most of the East Coast following a frozen January. There were still some waves of chilly air and periodic snow, but residents of New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh did not have to shovel as much snow or spend as much on heating costs in February as opposed to January.
Instead, Arctic air focused on the central United States with blasts of subzero temperatures across the northern Plains and even periodic intrusions of cold air as far south as Texas. Snow and ice accompanied one of these Texas cold blasts in early February causing widespread power outages and significant travel delays statewide, although it was not nearly as extreme as the winter weather that hit the state in February 2021.
February even brought the return of rain and high-elevation snow to Southern California, although it was far from putting a dent in the state’s long-term drought.
AccuWeather’s team of long-range forecasters, led by Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok, has provided an update to the spring outlook after the initial forecast was released on Groundhog Day.
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