Seasons and moons
First day of spring 2027: the March equinox
The countdown runs to the exact instant of the March equinox in your own time zone. Set the year to 2028 to see a March 19 spring.
First day of spring (equinox) 2027
143 days
| Date | Saturday, March 20, 2027 |
| Exact moment | March 20, 2027 at 4:24 PM EDT |
| Weeks | 20 weeks, 3 days |
| Weekends before it | 20 |
| Business days (federal holidays off) | 96 |
| First day of spring (equinox) 2026 | Friday, March 20, 2026 |
| First day of spring (equinox) 2027 | Saturday, March 20, 2027 |
| First day of spring (equinox) 2028 | Sunday, March 19, 2028 |
Spring begins, astronomically, at the March equinox: the instant the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north. In 2027 that happens at March 20, 2027 at 4:24 PM EDT, which is March 20, 2027 at 1:24 PM PDT in California. In 2028 it comes earlier in the calendar, at March 19, 2028 at 10:17 PM EDT, so most of the United States starts spring on March 19, a date that surprises people who learned that spring begins on March 21. That older date belongs to the twentieth century: since the Gregorian leap-year pattern makes 2000 a leap year, the equinox has crept earlier and now falls on March 19 or 20 in US time zones. The countdown above runs to the exact minute where you are. After the equinox, days are longer than nights across the Northern Hemisphere until the autumn equinox in September. Meteorological spring, used for weather statistics, starts on March 1 regardless of the Sun.
The four seasons of a year (Eastern Time)
Spring 2027 starts
March 20, 2027 at 4:24 PM EDT
| Summer | June 21, 2027 at 10:10 AM EDT |
| Fall | September 23, 2027 at 2:01 AM EDT |
| Winter | December 21, 2027 at 9:42 PM EST |
Dates computed and checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
March equinox times, 2026 to 2030
| Year | Eastern Time | Mountain Time | Pacific Time | Universal Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | March 20, 2026 at 10:45 AM EDT | March 20 at 8:45 AM MDT | March 20 at 7:45 AM PDT | March 20 at 2:45 PM UTC |
| 2027 | March 20, 2027 at 4:24 PM EDT | March 20 at 2:24 PM MDT | March 20 at 1:24 PM PDT | March 20 at 8:24 PM UTC |
| 2028 | March 19, 2028 at 10:17 PM EDT | March 19 at 8:17 PM MDT | March 19 at 7:17 PM PDT | March 20 at 2:17 AM UTC |
| 2029 | March 20, 2029 at 4:01 AM EDT | March 20 at 2:01 AM MDT | March 20 at 1:01 AM PDT | March 20 at 8:01 AM UTC |
| 2030 | March 20, 2030 at 9:51 AM EDT | March 20 at 7:51 AM MDT | March 20 at 6:51 AM PDT | March 20 at 1:51 PM UTC |
Daylight saving time has already started by the equinox every year, since clocks move forward on the second Sunday of March, so the US times above are in daylight time. Arizona, except the Navajo Nation, and Hawaii do not change their clocks: in Phoenix the equinox comes one hour earlier on the clock than in Denver.
Why the date drifts back
A year of the seasons lasts about 365 days, 5 hours and 49 minutes. Each ordinary year the equinox therefore arrives almost six hours later on the clock, and each leap year, by adding a day, pulls it back by about eighteen hours net. The Gregorian calendar keeps the drift in check over four centuries by skipping three leap years, in 1700, 1800 and 1900, then 2100, 2200 and 2300. The year 2000 was a leap year and did not skip, so the whole twenty-first century runs early. The equinox keeps drifting earlier through the century, to the point of falling on March 19 even in Universal Time from 2044, and the skipped leap day of 2100 will push it back.
The National Weather Service page on the seasons explains the astronomy: at the equinox the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the Sun, which stands over the equator at noon.
How the countdown is computed
The program follows Jean Meeus, whose method gives the equinox from a mean value corrected by 24 periodic terms, then converts Terrestrial Time to Universal Time by subtracting about 69 seconds. Your browser then expresses the moment in your time zone. The figures agree with published astronomical tables within a couple of minutes. The mini-tool under the summary gives the four seasons of any year from 2026 to 2030.
First day of summer (solstice) 2027
236 days
| Date | Monday, June 21, 2027 |
| Exact moment | June 21, 2027 at 10:10 AM EDT |
| Weeks | 33 weeks, 5 days |
| Weekends before it | 34 |
| Business days (federal holidays off) | 159 |
| First day of summer (solstice) 2026 | Sunday, June 21, 2026 |
| First day of summer (solstice) 2027 | Monday, June 21, 2027 |
| First day of summer (solstice) 2028 | Tuesday, June 20, 2028 |
Spring dates that follow the equinox
Several dates of the spring calendar depend on the equinox, directly or by convention. Easter follows the church equinox of March 21; the Easter page explains the rule. Ramadan does not depend on the seasons at all, but in 2027 and 2028 it falls in February and January, before spring; the Ramadan page has the estimates. Spring lasts about 92 days and 18 hours, until the June solstice, the first day of summer, which the countdown just above shows for 2027.