What is spring?
A: Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons,
succeeding winter and preceding summer.
There are various technical definitions of spring, but
local usage of the term varies according to what?
A: Local climate, cultures and customs.
When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, where is
it autumn?
A: In the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.
At the spring (or vernal) equinox, days and nights are
approximately how long?
A: Twelve hours, with daytime length increasing and nighttime length
decreasing as the season progresses until the Summer Solstice in June
(Northern Hemisphere) and December (Southern Hemisphere).
Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also
to ideas of what?
A: Rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth.
Subtropical and tropical areas have climates better
described in terms of what?
A: Other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, monsoonal or cyclonic.
Meteorologists generally define what four seasons in
many climatic areas?
A: Spring, summer, autumn (fall), and winter.
These are determined by the values of their average
temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting how long?
A: Three months.
The three warmest months are by definition what?
A: Summer, the three coldest months are winter, and the intervening gaps are
spring and autumn.
Meteorological spring can therefore, start on what?
A: Different dates in different regions.
In the US and UK, what are the spring months?
A: March, April, and May.
In Australia and
New Zealand, spring begins when?
A: On 22nd or 23rd of September and ends on 21 December.
In Ireland, following the Gaelic calendar, spring is
often defined as what?
A: February, March, and April.
In Sweden, meteorologists define the beginning of
spring as what?
A: The first occasion on which the average 24 hours temperature exceeds zero
degrees Celsius for seven consecutive days, thus the date varies with
latitude and elevation.
What are the spring months in Brazil?
A: September, October, November.
What marks the first day of spring in the Northern
Hemisphere?
A: The astronomical vernal equinox (varying between 19 and 21 March).
What marks the first day of summer?
A: The summer solstice (around 21 June).
By solar reckoning, Spring is held to begin when?
A: 1st of February until the first day of Summer on May Day, with
the summer solstice being marked as Midsummer instead of the beginning of
Summer as with astronomical reckoning.
In Persian culture what is the first day of spring?
A: The first day of the first month (called Farvardin) which begins on 20 or
21 March.
The beginning of spring is not always determined by
what?
A: Fixed calendar dates.
The phenological or ecological definition of spring
relates to biological indicators, such as what?
A: The blossoming of a range of plant species, the activities of
animals,
and the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro
flora to flourish.
These indicators, along with the beginning of spring,
vary according to what?
A: The local climate and according to the specific weather of a particular
year.
During early spring, the axis of the Earth is
increasing what?
A: Its tilt relative to the Sun, and the length of daylight rapidly
increases for the relevant hemisphere.
In spring the hemisphere begins to warm significantly,
causing what?
A: New plant growth to "spring forth," giving the season its name.
Any snow begins to melt, swelling streams with runoff
and any frosts become what?
A: Less severe.
