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Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images
A man rests outside during spring flooding in Khvoensk, Belarus on April 14.
Belarusian villager takes flooding from spring snow melt in stride
Hibernating Northeasterners flock to sunshine, warm weather
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
People relax along the East River in lower Manhattan during warm weather on April 9 in New York City. For the first time since October, temperatures are expected to rise above 70 degrees this week in New York and surrounding areas.
By STORM TEAM 4, NBCNewYork.com
After one day of spring-like weather, it's already starting to feel like summer.
Temperatures cracked the 80-degree mark Tuesday, tying a record 84 degrees at Newark Airport, set in 1991. The warmth brought a welcome reprieve to tri-state residents who endured a seemingly endless streak of chilly weather before Monday brought the warmest air of the year. Continue reading.
Nabil K. Mark / Centre Daily Times via AP
Penn State law student Ben Premack sits on his custom recumbent bicycle as his dogs pull him along the jogging path next to West Park Ave., in State College, Pa., on April 9. Premack customized his bicycle to help exercise his Tamaskan dogs which are bred to pull.
Julio Cortez / AP
Oliver Coby III, of Irvington, N.J., takes a photo of a cherry blossom tree at Branch Brook Park, on April 9 in Newark, N.J. Warm weather is expected this week, after the northern New Jersey region experienced frigid temperatures during the first couple of weeks of spring.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
People relax along the East River in lower Manhattan during warm weather on April 9 in New York City. For the first time since October, temperatures are expected to rise above 70 degrees this week in New York and surrounding areas.
Arie Kievit / EPA
Warming weather and longer days bring out the first signs of Spring.
Cherry trees blossom in Washington, DC
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
The Washington Monument is reflected as a couple walk hand-in-hand beneath cherry trees along the Tidal Basin in Washington on April 8, 2013. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing, with peak bloom occurring early this week.
earthcam.com
From the National Cherry Blossom Festival website:
The beautiful and delicate cherry blossoms cultivated in the National Mall and Memorial Parks have inspired generations of viewers since 1912. A gift from Japan, the flowering trees symbolize friendship between nations, the renewal of spring, and the ephemeral nature of life.
Click to view live video from EarthCam’s Cherry Blossoms Cam
Snowflakes welcome swimming season in Germany
Tobias Schwarz / Reuters
People take a bath at Berlin's Wannsee lido, on March 29, 2013. The Strandbad Wannsee opened the annual swimming season this Friday with temperatures of 39 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tobias Schwarz / Reuters
Manfred Scharnowski takes a sip of tea before he takes a bath at Berlin's Wannsee lido, on March 29, 2013. The Strandbad Wannsee opened the annual swimming season this Friday with temperatures of 39 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tobias Schwarz / Reuters
A person walks along Berlin's Wannsee lido, on March 29, 2013.
Jan Woitas / AFP - Getty Images
A man pulls a child on a sled through a park in Leipzig, Germany, on March 29, 2013. Fresh snowfall hit parts of the country on Good Friday.
Jan Woitas / AFP - Getty Images
A snowman stands in a park in Leipzig, eastern Germany, on March 29, 2013.
Roland Holschneider / EPA
A man swims in an open-air pool in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 29, 2013. The open-air pool is one of the very first to start its bathing season in the state of Hesse despite the wintery weather and cold outside temperatures.
Arie Kievit / EPA
Warming weather and longer days bring out the first signs of Spring.
Cherry blossoms burst with beauty in Japan
Shizuo Kambayashi / AP
A child and father enjoy the cherry blossoms at the Chidorigafuchi Imperial Palace moat in Tokyo on March 24.
Arie Kievit / EPA
Warming weather and longer days bring out the first signs of spring.
Spring trout stock arrives on Connecticut waterways
CJ Gunther / EPA
Ron Dunleavy unloads a net full of trout into the Faun Hill River on Friday, March 22, 2013 in Marlborough, Conn. The State of Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection will stock lakes, rivers and streams with nearly 400,000 Rainbow, Brown and Brook Trout through the end of May 2013. The trout stocking, provided as a service for recreational fishermen, is done entirely by hand, from the harvesting of eggs and sperm from the young adult fish to the transferring of the fish from the hatchery to the waterways.
CJ Gunther / EPA
Trout are counted as they are loaded into a tank truck at the Quinebaug Hatchery in Plainfield, Conn. on Friday.
CJ Gunther / EPA
Jay Nisped unloads trout from his tanker truck to be stocked into the Dickerson River behind him, in Colchester, Conn. on Friday.
GOES satellite sees Earth at equinox
NOAA
The GOES-13 satellite captured this full-disk image of our planet at 7:45 a.m. ET on March 20, just after the 7:02 a.m. ET equinox. The satellite image shows how Earth's two hemispheres receive equal amounts of sunlight during the equinox. In this image, the sun is artificially created to enhance the picture.
Earth's 23.5-degree tilt almost always ensures that the northern and the southern halves of our planet get unequal amounts of solar energy, with longer nights in winter and bigger stretches of sunlight in summer. Twice a year, however, both hemispheres get equal amounts of light, with equal intervals of day and night. That's what's known as the equinox.
Just such an event at 7:02 a.m. ET on Wednesday heralded the official beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and the start of autumn in the South. This full-disk picture from the GOES-13 weather satellite, captured at 7:45 a.m., shows the equal division between Earth's night and day.
"The visible imagery sensor on GOES requires sunlight to 'see' clouds, and so it provides a useful example of the equinox," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Environmental Visualization Laboratory says in Wednesday's advisory. "In this image the GOES imagery extends to each of the poles since the entire hemisphere is equally lit. After the equinox passes today, the Northern Hemisphere will be more lit than the Southern Hemisphere – causing the seasons."
Orbital mechanics may determine the precise moment of the equinox, but scientists say that the effects of the seasonal change can vary widely, due to climatic factors. There's some evidence, for example, that climate change is causing flowers to bloom earlier in the eastern U.S. than they did in the 1850s or the 1930s. Have you noticed changes on shorter time scales? Feel free to spring into action with your comments below.
More about the changing seasons:
- How we know that spring has sprung
- Spring begins a day earlier, kind of
- Gallery: 10 spring flings with science
Tip o' the Log to LiveScience's Douglas Main.
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log and the rest of NBCNews.com's science and space coverage, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Celebrations honor women in Romania at the start of spring
Bogdan Cristel / Reuters
A man performs during a male striptease show held in celebration of International Women's Day at a club in Bucharest, March 2.
Romanians dedicate both March 1, which is traditionally Romania's first day of spring, and March 8 to honor women and their contribution to society. International Women's Day is March 8.
Bogdan Cristel / Reuters
Women watch a male striptease show.
Signs of Spring at Kew Gardens
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Raindrops hang on to Crocuses at Kew Gardens on March 1, 2013 in Kew, England. Today marks the first day of Spring, though the Met Office have said that temperatures are likely to be below average throughout March.
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Buds emerge at Kew Gardens on Friday.
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
A woman walks past Crocuses at Kew Gardens on Friday.
Dolled up inmates celebrate spring
Martin Mejia / AP
Female inmates wearing butterfly costumes attend an event that celebrates the first days of spring at a prison for women in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 24. The event is part of a program that aims to help prisoners reduce stress and build self confidence.
Martin Mejia / AP
Inmates watch their fellow female inmates perform at an event celebrating the first days of Spring at a prison for women in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 24.
Martin Mejia / AP
Inmates wear shoes they made from recycled materials during the fashion segment of an event celebrating the first days of spring at a prison for women in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 24.
Martin Mejia / AP
Inmates in costume dance as bodyguards stand by during an event celebrating the first days of spring at a prison for women in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 24.
Related content:
Cornish dancers take to the streets on Helston Flora Day
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
The Helston Town Band leads dancers through a private home as they take part in the Early Morning Dance as part of the Helston Flora Day celebrations on May 8, 2012 in Helston, England. The dance, which starts at 7am and is the first in a series throughout the day, goes all over the town and even in and out of houses and shops.
Getty Images reports — Helston Flora Day celebrates the passing of winter and the arrival of spring. The streets of the town of Helston in Cornwall, south west England, are filled with revelers from early morning, with musicians and dancers weaving in and out of shops and houses.
The highlight is the midday Furry dance which was traditionally the preserve of the town's gentry. For this dance, the men wear top hats and tails while the women dance in their finest dresses.
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
People dance in the early morning light as they take part in the Early Morning Dance.
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
Dancers follow the Helston Town Band as they take part in the Early Morning Dance.
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
Participants in the Flora Dance, also known as the Furry Dance, make their way through the town.
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
Participants in the Flora Dance make their way through the town.
Diego Azubel / EPA
An early spring coaxes the birds, bees, flowers and humans to come out from winter hibernation to enjoy the sunshine.
Joerg Koch / AP
Splashing into May
A boy dives into the water on opening day of public swimming pools in Munich, Southern Germany on May 1.