First Day of Spring, March 1st? or 21st?

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I used to live in North America and now reside in the UK and found it odd to hear the T.V. station report that March 1st to be the first day of spring. Upon researching I found this to be a fairly common misconception, perhaps out of convenience. Now I'm left to wonder if this misconception is a UK thing, or is it something I never heard before now?

I have always accepted the Vernal Equinox (March 20/21) to be the exact point at which spring commences in the northern hemisphere.

The question I pose is this, what do you consider to be the first day of spring?

LL

I've always considered it to be the 21st.

interesting concept but i wouldnt know considering its still winter out here

Long ago the Julian calender was established setting the first of March - then the New Year - to occur on the vernal equinox. Since they did not accurately adjust for the fact that the year is slightly under 1/4 day longer than 365 days, the vernal equinox drifted later into the month. Then, in the 1580s, the Gregorian calendar - which the West uses today - was introduced, skipping over 10 days trying to account for the error.

The vernal equinox now occurs between late 19 March and early 21 March, depending on your time zone and whether a leap year just occured or not. The astronomically correct start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere is this equinox.

It is customary, at least in the US, to compile seasonal climatological data using definitions of the seasons that start on the 1st of March, June, September and December. However, it is recognised that these three-month groupings are not truly "seasons"; just meteorological proxies for them.

I feel it's odd for a national TV station to claim March 1st as the first day of spring. The Gregorian calendar is what is widely used and the vernal equinox is the actual start of the spring season, therefore I feel it should be recognised as such.

LL

Even though the official date is March 21st, it always feels like the start of spring on March 1st in Indiana. Recently, we actually had some nice spring days at the end of December. Some people were even wearing shorts on my December 28th birthday!

I accept that the 21st is the first actual day of spring but it is rarely nice outside by then in the midwest U.S. Usually we have some cold weather and/or snow at the end of March. I don't feel like spring is there to stay until about the second week of April or so. I really hate cold weather so I try to stay realistic so that I wont be disappointed when the cold returns.

I believe the first day of spring might be different depending on where you live. I, living in Florida, would consider it spring now in late February. Summer here begins in late April. Maybe in Wisconsin the spring begins later, like in March or April. Why should everyone have the same start of Spring when the weather isn't anywhere similar from one end of the country to the other ( or in other countries). It feels like Spring to me now, and the farmers are busy planting things, so why would I call it winter?
Also, in Florida, we have additional seasons: Hurricane and non-hurricane season. We consider these to be real seasons, as do many in Louisiana, Georgia, N.C., S.C. and Mississippi.

Our weatherman called March 1 the first day of meteorlogical spring.

I suspect that would vary by location.

St Patrick's Day is my first day of spring.

Spring begins on April 20th, no ifs ands or buts.

I hope that it's March 21st, because that's me, and my husband's anniversary. We thought the first day of spring would be a lovely date to exchange vows.

We still get several inches of snow in March, so definitely later rather than earlier.

P.S. my birthday is March 25th.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)

It's March 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, regardless of what the weather is like.

Perhaps, Elderwanda, you should read the link you post. That's not what it says.

It has multiple definitions. That's the astronomical definition. It notes, as I did earlier, that meteorologist define Spring as starting March 1. And it gives other definitions as well.