By Tyler Shobe

Staff Writer

Spring has finally arrived today and April showers and May flowers will soon be on their way.

As winter winds down, Charleston will be experiencing more fair weather as today is officially the Spring Equinox, said local weather observer Dalias Price.

An equinox occurs when the sun reaches what is termed a “vertical position” at the equator. At this point, the sun is shining directly at the equator, which would cause the days have an equal amount of daylight and dark throughout the world. This equals two 12-hours periods of light and darkness, or an equinox.

This occurs twice a year, once in the spring and once in autumn. This is also the only time that the sun shines to the north, Price said.

According to Price, we already had a period of equal daylight and night last Friday. However, this was because of the reflection of light through the atmosphere.

The actual equinox will occur Wednesday, with sunrise at 5:55 a.m. and sunset at 6:06 p.m. The lengthening of the day will continue until June 21st, which will be the longest day of the year.

The temperatures should be between 32 and 52 degrees this week, with an average of 42 degrees, Price said.

The temperatures should continue to rise for the next week and a half, with spring officially occurring at the end of that period.

The average temperature should be in the 50’s. Price noted that the average snowfall for March is 3 inches, but so far we have yet to receive any snowfall.