Vernal Equinox Brings Spring to Treasure Coast Friday at 10:46 a.m.

Spring arrives officially at 10:46 a.m. EST Friday, March 20, when the 2026 vernal equinox marks the astronomical start of the season for the Northern Hemisphere.

For Treasure Coast residents, the timing means something concrete: days will grow incrementally longer from Friday through the summer solstice on June 21, giving beachgoers, anglers, and boaters more usable daylight with each passing week.

The equinox occurs when Earth's tilt is neither toward the sun nor away from it, so both the northern and southern hemispheres receive equal amounts of sunlight. On Friday, the sun will rise almost exactly due east and set almost exactly due west — and day and night will last nearly the same length of time.

The word equinox derives from two Latin words meaning "equal" and "night."

Astronomical spring differs from meteorological spring. Meteorologists define spring as starting March 1, based on annual temperature cycles, while the astronomical calendar — tied to Earth's orbit — puts the start at the equinox. For Treasure Coast weather purposes, the meteorological calendar aligns more closely with the region's pattern shift toward warmer, more humid conditions that typically build through March and April ahead of the official rainy season beginning June 1.

After Friday, days in the Northern Hemisphere will continue to lengthen until the summer solstice, which falls June 21 this year. The autumnal equinox, which marks the start of fall, arrives between Sept. 21 and 24.

Equinoxes carry cultural weight globally. At the Mayan site of Chichen Itza in Mexico, crowds gather to watch sunlight create a shadow resembling a serpent descending the El Castillo pyramid. In Japan, the vernal equinox is a public holiday.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.