*** Paul Piorek is editor and publisher of Paul's Local Weather Journal for southwestern Connecticut ... Paul is the on-air meteorologist at WICC 600 AM and 107.3 FM ... Paul is a New York Emmy award winner (2007), five-time Emmy nominee, and four-time winner of the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcasters' Association award for Best TV Weathercast (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012) ... Paul was voted Best Local Television Personality by the readers of Fairfield County Weekly Magazine (2012) ... Paul was inducted into the Housatonic Community College Hall of Fame and received the Distinguished Alumni Award (2012) ... The local weather journal is a two-time winner of the Communicator Award of Distinction (2012 & 2013) ... Paul is currently a full-time teacher of Earth Science and Mathematics in Fairfield ... Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulPiorekWICC ...

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Vernal Equinox Happens Tomorrow

Today is the last full day of Winter. However, Old Man Winter has no intentions of packing his bags and leaving just yet. Another Winter storm brought up to five inches of snow to Westport and Weston last night and caused many school delays this morning. Spring officially arrives in the Northern Hemisphere tomorrow morning at 7:02 Eastern Daylight Time. That's when the direct rays of the Sun pass over the Equator, technically creating "equal day and equal night" over the face of the Earth.

I've always observed the change of seasons with more reverence and awe than New Year's Eve. After all, the beginning of a new year is an arbitrary date which can actually be recognized just about any time during the year. However, an equinox or a solstice is a much more meaningful "event" and can be explained astronomically. The time is exact and changes every year although, for the most part, the date doesn't vary much.

Spring

The change of seasons is due to the 23.4 degree tilt of the Earth's axis. Because of the tilt, we receive the Sun's rays most directly in the Summer. In the Winter, when we are tilted away from the Sun, the rays pass through the atmosphere at a greater slant, bringing lower temperatures. If the Earth rotated on an axis perpendicular to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, there would be no variation in day lengths or temperatures throughout the year, and we would not have seasons.

Now that Winter is just about in our rear-view mirror, how did we fare as far as snow is concerned? Officially, more than five feet (64.3") of snow fell this season, making it the fourth snowiest on record at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford. That's more than double the 25.3" normal through yesterday and well above the 13.6" which fell last year. This season's snowfall eclipsed the 62.6" total from two years ago.

Spring2

The weather will be anything but Springlike the rest of the week. Daytime temperatures will struggle to reach the lower 40s through Friday. There will be an offshore storm Thursday which may brush the region with a few flurries. Consider the normal high temperature for this time of the year is 48 degrees. By this weekend, our temperatures should return close to normal, though, with daytime highs in the upper 40s.

Happy Spring!

Paul