I am a kindergarten teacher. I am looking for the exact date and time that spring officially begins this year. I think I have heard one of you say, but I cannot remember.

MIKE MOSS SAYS:     MaryBeth,     This year's Vernal Equinox occurs at 8:07 pm EDT on Tuesday March 20th. That time marks one of the two brief moments each year (the other in Sptember)  at which the earth's rotational axis is not tilted at all toward or away from the sun, and this astronomical marker is commonly used as the "official beginning of spring." In a meteorological and climatological sense, the increasing temperatures and decreasing numbers of storm systems associated with springtime are already well under way, and for record-keeping purposes we consider spring to be all of March, April and May.