Joe Rao reports:
Avid “Seinfeld” fans might remember the episode when Jerry’s friend, George, was desperately trying to find a way to postpone his impending Christmastime wedding with his fiancée, Susan. He finally comes up with a solution: Have the wedding on March 21 — the first day of spring!”
Unfortunately, if George had gone through with the nuptials (and Seinfeld aficionados know why he never did), he would have been a full day late. You see, in America, spring no longer falls on March 21. In 2005, for instance, the vernal equinox, the first day of spring for the Northern Hemisphere comes on Sunday, March 20, at 7:33 a.m. ET. Now this doesn’t seem right. I mean, when we were all growing up, the first day of spring was always on March 21, not March 20, right? Now, all of a sudden, spring comes on March 20.
The current seasonal lengths for the Northern Hemisphere are:
Winter 88.994 days Spring 92.758 days Summer 93.651 days Autumn 89.842 days As you can see, the warm seasons, spring and summer, combined are 7.573 days longer than the colder seasons, fall and winter (good news for warm weather admirers).
However, spring is currently being reduced by approximately one minute per year and winter by about one-half minute per year. Summer is gaining the minute lost from spring, and autumn is gaining the half-minute lost from winter. Winter is the shortest astronomical season, and with its seasonal duration continuing to decrease, it is expected to attain its minimum value — 88.71 days — by about the year 3500.
Read more here.