The weather might not be cooperating, but once March Madness brackets start getting printed out, spring is officially pounding on the door. So, on that note, its our pleasure to announce the Spring Equinox or Vernal Equinox (code for the official start of spring) will happen Thursday, March 20.

For some reason, announcing that the spring calendar season will start this week doesn’t sound quite as powerful as saying Wednesday is the last day of winter. Obviously, Bostonians know that Wednesday probably won’t “officially” signal the official last day of winter, with temperatures struggling to climb out of the low 40s. But the Spring Equinox offers hope.

At 12:37 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the sun will cross the equator moving from the south to north, marking the exact start of spring.

According to the National Weather Service, the word equinox comes from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). The Spring or Vernal Equinox is the point during Earth’s 365 day revolution around the sun that the Northern Hemisphere begins to tilt toward the sun.

Again, just because our neck of the words is going to tilt toward the sun Thursday, doesn’t mean winter weather, and, yes, occasional snow is impossible. But for now, enjoy the fact that science mandates we must start saying”it’s springtime,” right after lunch on Thursday.

Image via Vincent Demers