Write Team: Spring is just around the corner

Congratulations everyone! We have just about made it.

Meteorological winter officially ends this Thursday, Feb. 29. Four short days and then we can all rise with pride and spit in winter’s face and say “Ha, we won!” Spring is here.

I reference meteorological winter as there is a debate each year as to when the seasons actually do change and given there are two schools of thought, you can see where the debate may come from. Those two different versions to explain the seasonal changes are astronomical and meteorological.

The astronomical definition uses the dates of equinoxes and solstices to mark the beginning and end of the seasons: Spring begins on the spring equinox, summer begins on the summer solstice, fall or autumn, begins on the fall equinox, and winter begins on the winter solstice.

According to the meteorological definition, the seasons begin on the first day of the months that include the equinoxes and solstices. In the Northern Hemisphere, spring runs from March 1 to May 31; summer runs from June 1 to August 31; fall (autumn) runs from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30; and winter runs from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28 (Feb. 29 in a leap year).

The question of which definition to use divides countries and regions around the world. For example, Australia and New Zealand use the meteorological definition, so spring begins on Sept. 1 each year. In many other countries, both definitions are used, depending on the context.

In Ireland, St. Brigid’s Day on Feb. 1 is often thought to mark the beginning of spring in the ancient Celtic calendar system. Some cultures, especially those in South Asia, who have calendars that divide the year into six seasons, instead of the four that most of us are familiar with.

In Finland and Sweden, the dates of the seasons are not based on the calendar at all, but on temperatures. This means that the seasons within each county start and end on different dates, depending on the regions and their climate.

In Iceland, the first day of summer, a national holiday, falls on the first Thursday after April 18. That seems a bit complicated but given you live in Iceland, I’m guessing you look for any port in the storm.

I tend to buy into the meteorological explanation as to seasonal changes as it seems to be the most consistent. Every three months, the season changes. As I already mentioned, the astronomical uses equinoxes and those dates do change. For instance, the March equinox happens sometime between March 19 and 21 and the September equinox occurs sometime between Sept. 21 and 24. Being loosey goosey with the dates really doesn’t help anyone, does it?

Regardless of which side of the ideas you fall into, I think we can all agree that this was not a bad winter. As has been the case in recent years, we had snow for Halloween but nothing for Christmas, one or two heavy snowfalls sprinkled about to remind us where we live, but I only had to get the snowblower out once.

The first part of this week is forecasted to be in the upper 60s with a slight cool down in the middle of the week and right back to the 60s for the weekend. Pitchers and catchers have reported for spring training. I brought my shorts out a month ago so suffice it to say, I am ready for spring!

Jonathan Freeburg is an Ottawa transplant for the past two decades-plus and a regular contributor to 1430 WCMY Radio. He can be reached at newsroom@shawmedia.com.