Spring (season)

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Spring is one of the four temperate seasons. Spring marks the transition from winter into summer. Its days are nearly twelve hours long with increasing day length, as it occurs near the time of an equinox. Early annuals bloom in the spring. In the Northern Hemisphere, holidays such as Easter and Earth Day occur during the spring, which runs from March into June. In the Southern Hemisphere, holidays such as Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur occur during the spring, which runs from September into December. Also, the tropical cyclone season begins during the late spring in both hemispheres, though it is more delayed in the north Atlantic Ocean than the other ocean basins.

Contents 1 Definition 2 Events 3 Festivals 3.1 Mesopotamia 3.2 Afghanistan 3.3 Persia 3.4 May Day 3.5 Easter 3.6 Chinese New Year 3.7 India 3.8 Vietnam 3.9 Pakistan 4 Gallery 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Definition

Meteorologists generally define four seasons in many climatic areas, winter, spring, summer and autumn (or fall). These are demarcated by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting three months. The three warmest months are by definition summer, the three coldest months are winter, and the intervening gaps are spring and autumn. Spring, when defined in this manner, can start on different dates in different regions. In the vast majority of Northern Hemisphere locations, spring occurs during the months of March, April and May. (Summer is June, July, August; Autumn is September, October, November; Winter is December, January, February.) The vast majority of Southern Hemisphere locations will have opposing seasons with spring in September, October and November. ^[1]

Astronomically, the vernal equinox (usually March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere, and September 22 in the Southern Hemisphere), should be the middle of spring, and the summer solstice (usually June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and December 21 in the Southern Hemisphere) should be mid-summer, but daytime temperatures lag behind insolation by several weeks because the earth and sea have thermal latency and take time to warm up. Some cultures call the spring equinox mid-spring, but others regard it as the "first day of spring". For most temperate regions, signs of spring appear long before the middle of March, but the folklore of March 21 being the "first day of spring" persists, though June 21 as the "first day of summer" is common only in the USA.

According to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February (near Imbolc or Candlemas) and continues until early May (Beltane).

The phenological definition of spring relates to indicators, the blossoming of a range of plant species, and the activities of animals, or the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish. The first swallow to arrive or the flowering of lilac may be the indicator of spring. It therefore varies according to the climate and according to the specific weather of a particular year.

Spring is often a very rainy and muddy season, especially in the Northeast US.

[edit] Events

In recent decades season creep has been observed, which means that many phenological signs of spring are occurring earlier in many regions by a couple of days per decade.

In spring, the axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt toward the Sun and the length of daylight rapidly increases for the relevant hemisphere. The hemisphere begins to warm significantly causing new plant growth to "spring forth," giving the season its name. Snow, if a normal part of winter, begins to melt, and streams swell with runoff. Frosts, if a normal part of winter, become less severe. Many temperate climates have no snow and may have no frosts, and the air and ground temperature increase. Many flowering plants bloom this time of year, in a long succession sometimes beginning even if snow is still on the ground, continuing into early summer. In normally snowless areas "spring" may begin as early as February (Northern Hemisphere) heralded by the blooming of deciduous magnolias, cherries, and quince, or August (Southern Hemisphere) in the same way. Subtropical and tropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, eg dry or wet, or monsoonal, or cyclonic. Often the cultures have locally defined names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe. Many temperate areas have a dry spring, and wet autumn (fall), which brings about flowering in this season more consistent with the need for water as well as warmth. Subarctic areas may not experience "spring" at all until May or even June, or December in the outer Antarctic.

While spring is a result of the warmth caused by the turning of the Earth's axis, the weather in many parts of the world is overlain by events which appear very erratic taken on a year to year basis, but the rainfall in spring, or any season, follows trends more related to longer cycles or events created by ocean currents and ocean temperatures which move to different complex effects. A good and well researched example being the El Niño effect and the Southern Oscillation Index.

Unstable weather may more often occur during spring, when warm air begins on occasions to invade from lower latitudes, while cold air is still pushing on occasions from the Polar Regions. Flooding is also most common in and near mountainous areas during this time of year because of snowmelt, many times accelerated by warm rains. In the United States, Tornado Alley is most active this time of year, especially since the Rocky Mountains prevent the surging hot and cold air masses from spreading eastward and instead force them directly at each other. Besides tornadoes, supercell thunderstorms can also produce dangerously large hail and very high winds, for which a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning is usually issued. Even more so than winter, the jet streams play an important role in unstable and severe weather in the springtime in the Northern Hemisphere.

As mentioned, spring is a term for temperate climates, but the news of many countries covers large parts of continents and so we may hear of the hurricane season (Northern Hemisphere) and cyclone season Southern Hemisphere officially beginning in late spring. This is less to do with the relationship of spring to hurricanes / cyclones but more to do with the extent of media coverage and the use of seasonal terms from the one part of a continent to make reference to what is happening in other less temperate climates. The monsoon season is the monsoon season, and not some variation of spring or summer, except for those perceiving it from a temperate climate background.

Spring is seen as a time of growth, renewal, of new life (both plant and animal) being born. The term is also used more generally as a metaphor for the start of better times, as in Prague Spring.

Spring is the end of winter, and is marked by lengthening days. The Christian season of birth and renewal has Easter at this time.

Spring in the Southern Hemisphere is different in several significant ways to that of the Northern Hemisphere. This is because: there is no land bridge between Southern Hemisphere countries and the Antarctic zone capable of bringing in cold air without the temperature-mitigating effects of extensive tracts of water; the vastly greater amount of ocean in the Southern Hemisphere at all latitudes; at this time in Earth's geologic history the Earth has an orbit which brings it in closer to the Southern Hemisphere for its warmer seasons; there is a circumpolar flow of air (the roaring 40's and 50's) uninterrupted by large land masses; no equivalent jet streams; and the peculiarities of the reversing ocean currents in the Pacific.

[edit] Festivals

[edit] Mesopotamia

Akitu (Sumerian Akiti-šekinku "cutting of barley", Akiti-šununum "sowing of barley", Babylonian rêš-šattim "head of the year") was a spring festival in ancient Mesopotamia. The name is from the Sumerian for "barley", originally marking two festivals celebrating the beginning of each of the two half-years of the Sumerian calendar, marking the sowing of barley in autumn and the cutting of barley in spring. In Babylonian religion it came to be dedicated to Marduk's victory over Tiamat.

[edit] Afghanistan

The first day of spring is the beginning of the new year, Nowruz, in the Afghan calendar. Nowruz (also Naw-Rúz, Norooz, Newroz, Navroj, and many other variants) marks an important traditional holiday festival celebrated in Afghanistan as well as in many other countries such as Azerbaijan, Iran and Tajikistan,

[edit] Persia

The first day of spring is the beginning of the new year, Nowruz, in the Iranian calendar. Nowruz (also Naw-Rúz, Norooz, Newroz, Navroj, and many other variants) marks an important traditional holiday festival celebrated in Iran as well as in many other countries with a significant population from one of various Iranian peoples, such as Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and by Kurdish communities in Turkey and Iraq and elsewhere.

[edit] May Day

May 1 is the date of several public holidays.^[2] In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day, or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labour movement. As a day of celebration the holiday has ancient origins, and it can relate to many customs that have survived into modern times. Many of these customs are due to May Day being a cross-quarter day, meaning that (in the Northern Hemisphere where it is almost exclusively celebrated) it falls approximately halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice.

[edit] Easter

Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.^[3] Christians believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the "third day"^[4] (two days after his crucifixion), and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day, two days after Good Friday.

[edit] Chinese New Year

The Chinese Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people in mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī. It literally means "Year-pass Eve".

[edit] India

Holi The most vibrant festival of colours celebrated by Hindus in India. People throw water and apply colour powders on each other.
Vasant Panchami: celebrated in North India

[edit] Vietnam

Vietnamese use lunar and solar calendars. The use of the former in this country happened long before the latter had been invented. The lunar calendar is used mainly to divide the year into seasons for agriculture purposes. People of this country start their Spring season with the celebration of Vietnamese New Year, or Tết in Vietnamese. In the old days, the celebration used to last the entire month of January of the lunar calendar. Traditionally, firecrackers are used on New Year's Eve, or đêm giao thừa in Vietnamese, to scare away bad spirits.

[edit] Pakistan

Kite festival competitions are held all over Pakistan and awards are distributed among winners.

[edit] Gallery

Dandelions in spring

Encelia farinosa in spring

[edit] References

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

[edit] External links

• Word Lore
• Online Etymology Dictionary
• Glossary of Meteorology
• Solstice, Equinox & Cross-Quarter Moments for 2009 and other years, for several timezones
• Earth's Seasons, Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion, 2000–2020 (from the United States Naval Observatory's Astronomical Applications Department)
• Seasons and Seasonal Cusps as Pagan and Religious Holidays (from Archaeoastronomy)
• What day does spring start? (BBC,UK News Magazine)

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