Tuesday, March 20, at 1:14 a.m. EDT marked the vernal equinox, and official start of spring in 2012.
The vernal equinox and autumnal equinox occur in March and September, respectively. An equinox occurs when the sun shines directly on the equator and, during this time, periods of night and day are nearly equal.
The first day of spring also follows the beginning of Daylight Saving Time.
This year (2016), the vernal equinox takes place on Sunday, March 20 at 12:30 a.m. EDT, or late in the evening on Saturday, March 19 if you live in the central (11:30 p.m.), mountain (10:30 p.m.) or pacific (9:30 p.m.) time zones.
Spring has arrived! CBC News shares what it looks like across the country.