Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Spring is in the Air

The first day of spring this year was on March 20 at 1:14 am (EDT). On the Vernal Equinox, daylight equals darkness. And each day until the first day of summer, the length of daylight increases. Here's a picture of sunrise on the first day of spring up at the cabin.

Because the sun has to make its way over Goat Island before it "rises," we didn't see it until 9:15 am. Look at the difference from the first day of winter when it rose at 9:45 am.

An even bigger difference happened at sunset. Here's the sun setting behind the trees across the bay at 11:43 am on December 22. That made our direct sunlight on the first day of winter last only two hours.

On March 20, the sun arced high over the treeline across the bay and set behind our cliff at 5:45 pm, giving us seven and a half hours of sunlight.

That's assuming it isn't a rainy or snowy day. Our weather is still a bit unsettled. But from now on, it can only get better. How are you celebrating the start of spring? -- Margy

3 comments:

  1. We're going to California, with a cruise out of San Diego to Cabo, Manzanillo, and Puerto Vallarta.
    Sigh.
    Will send some California rays your way.
    K

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  2. Tis strange weather, isn't it?

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  3. Kay - Good for you. Sounds like lots of fun in the sun. We used to love flying to Mexico when we lived in LA.

    Jenn - Sure is. Definitely spring one day and then back to winter the next. But we love all the extra sunlight for aesthetic and solar power generation purposes.

    Margy

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We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy