Today, Wednesday March 20th at 4:58 PM CDT is the official start of Spring or the Vernal Equinox.
What this means is that the Earth is now nearly straight up and down on its axis facing the sun.
Thus, the sun is directly over the equator producing about 12 hours of daylight for every place in the world.
As we move towards summer the Earth will begin tilting with the northern hemisphere now moving closer to the sun.
With the sun slightly closer to us that is why temperatures start to warm up across the northern hemisphere in the spring and summer.
Also, the sun angle is higher in the sky which is why it’s important to start wearing sunscreen if you have to be outside for extended periods from now until September.
This year we have a special treat as a super worm moon is also occurring this evening.
This is the first time in 38 years that both the vernal equinox and a full moon have occurred on the same day.
The reason it is a super moon is because the location of the moon on its perigee is fairly close to the earth making it appear about 10-12% larger than normal.
As for why the March full moon is called a “worm” moon is because this is the time for most places the ground is warming up and earthworms are emerging.
For us in Acadiana the super worm moon will start rising just before sunset at 7:11 PM and will reach its fullest point at 8:44 PM.
With clear skies tonight we should have perfect viewing conditions to see the full moon.
