Editorial: Spring is here and not a moment too soon

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Large parts of the country likely thought 1:32 p.m. EDT Saturday, March 20, would never come. That's the vernal equinox, the traditional end of winter and beginning of spring, the heliocentric spring, that is.

The National Weather Service dates the start of meteorological spring from March 1, but those extra 19 days are good insurance that the winter of 2010 is well and truly gone.

This past winter was colder than average, especially in the South. Florida has its fourth coldest February ever. And the winter, thanks to that curious Pacific phenomenon El Nino, was wetter than normal.

A succession of massive snowstorms struck the Atlantic states. Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Wilmington and Atlantic City had record seasonal snowfalls. The NWS says if the blizzards of Feb. 4-7 and Feb. 9-11 are considered a single event it would be only the third Category 5 -- meaning "extreme" -- winter storm ever to hit the Northeast.

Unfortunately, the effects of those storms linger. There is major flooding in the Midwest because of the melting snow pack and frozen ground and the South and East are at risk because the ground is saturated. But help, in the form of sunlight and warm weather, are on the way.

The equinox is that moment when the sun is directly over the equator. It is often said that is the moment when day and night are of equal length, but the actual "equilux," when sunrise and sunset are exactly 12 hours apart, occurs a couple of days before the equinox.

We speak of the sun traveling north, which is a nice thought but an illusion. The Earth is tipped on its axis and for half of the year the Southern Hemisphere has more exposure to the sun than the Northern Hemisphere.

In the southern hemisphere, Saturday's equinox is the first day of fall. Those lands below the equator will get no sympathy here, not after this past winter. They've had their spring and summer. It's our turn.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)