Home > Ephemeris Program, Seasons > Ephemeris: 03/19/2026 – Anticipating the beginning of spring

Ephemeris: 03/19/2026 – Anticipating the beginning of spring

March 19, 2026

See Aurora alert below

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, March 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 12 hours and 6 minutes, setting at 7:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:45. The Moon, 1 day past new, will set at 9:02 this evening.

This is the last full day of winter. It seems strange that we know so accurately when the seasons begin and end astronomically, but never know what the weather’s going to do tomorrow with that same accuracy. The main reason is the number of variables involved. With the solar system, the earth and the sun in particular. There are very few variables. For instance, the masses of the Earth and the Sun, they’re distance apart and the gravitational constant, will give you a very close approximation. For the weather, there are tons of variables, plus what a butterfly did in Alaska last October. Knowing the date of the vernal equinox the first day of spring was and is important for agriculture, knowing when the world will warm up again.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The first flowers in my yard are these guys that are the first to bloom after the snow melts. They appear to be Glory-of-the-Snow according to Google.
The first flowers in my yard are these little guys that are the first to bloom after the snow melts. They appear to be Glory-of-the-Snow according to Google. They have the long thin leaves. This was taken on April 5th, five years ago. I’m not sure if they will be as early this year, since we had the biggest snow storm of the season a few days ago, and we’re still digging out!

Aurora Alert

According to Spaceweather.com the Earth will be hit with 2 CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections) from the Sun on the 19th and 21st respectively. See also NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

Categories: Ephemeris Program, Seasons