Friday, March 20, marks the end of winter with the vernal equinox.The first day of spring officially begins at 6:44 a.m. for the central time zone in the northern hemisphere. The March equinox features 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime.”The term equinox means equal night, where the Earth’s position related to the sun makes the same amount of hours between day and night,” said Ricardo Nogueira, geography doctoral student. “The solar point, the position of the sun, is over the equator.”Even though New Year’s Day marks the beginning of the new year, the equinoxes mark the beginnings of seasons. The vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring and summer, longer day hours than night hours, more solar energy and more intense thunderstorms for the northern hemisphere.——Contact Mary Walker Baus [email protected]