equinox

Great moments in Michigan Equinox history

Posted on March 20, 2026March 20, 2026 by farlane

Spring officially begins today with the vernal equinox at 10:46am, and the statewide forecast from NOAA looks like it will more or less cooperate with highs in the 60s in southern Michigan and the entire state expected to top freezing today – a welcome respite!

The photographer shared this way back in 2008, writing “MOMENTS after I took this shot, I balanced this egg on this nail. Unfortunately I didn’t “catch” that event but here is the lead-up to it. So, an egg CAN balance on the head of a nail on spring equinox.” So close!! For sure follow them on Flickr for the latest!

There’s lots more science on Michigan in Pictures, but to be strictly scientific, the equinox has no measurable effect on your ability to balance an egg! With that said, would love to see your egg balancing photos!!

Bring on the Spring!

Posted on March 19, 2026March 19, 2026 by farlane

Crocus by Bill Dolak

“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” -Mark Twain

Tomorrow morning our seasonal window moves from winter to spring regardless of what the weather decides to do.

I am a firm vote for “Spring stuff” aka flowers, baby animals, duckies, etc, but to prepare you for whatever lies ahead, here are some flowers just minding their own business from Bill. See more in his massive Flowers gallery on Flickr & follow Bill’s Pictures on Facebook for his latest!

Let the sun shine brightly in March

Posted on March 13, 2026 by farlane

Let me first wish a very happy 313 Day to the city of Detroit & all who love it! There is no city that I would rather be from, and none that I’d rather live in. Then let me also say that I think it’s kind of hilarious that I was looking for the perfect photo to celebrate the city and already had it queued up for a post!

Let the sun shine bright on the city by Scott Laidlaw

USA Today shares that the dramatic increase in daylight in March is part of a fascinating and unbalanced yearly cycle:

While sunrise and sunset times are constantly on the move, sunlight rapidly increases in March (and rapidly decreases in September). During the month of March, some parts of the United States will add over an hour-and-a-half of sun by the end of the month.

…The increase in daylight, or the amount of time the sun spends above the horizon, will be most obvious in the northernmost parts of the U.S., which will face the sun more directly as the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun on Earth’s axis at a 23.5-degree angle, according to Brandon Buckingham, a meteorologist at AccuWeather.

FYI, Michigan will pick up between 80 and 100 minutes of daylight this month.

Scott took this back in 2020 and he notes how 3-D it looks. You can see more in his massive Detroit gallery & for sure follow him on Flickr for the latest!

The mural was the 100th painted by Detroit artist Waleed Johnson which is pretty amazing when you consider how much work it is to paint a mural!

Fall Equinox is today … mostly

Posted on September 22, 2025 by farlane

Last sunset of summer 2020 by Scott Glenn

Astronomical fall starts at 2:19 pm today (September 22, 2025), but that doesn’t mean that day & night are exactly equal for us here in Michigan. The very useful timeanddate.com shares that in addition to latitude & the refracting effect of our atmosphere:

One of the reasons why most locations on Earth do not enjoy exactly 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime on the equinoxes is how sunrise and sunset are defined. If sunrise and sunset were defined as the moment the geometric center of the Sun passes the horizon, then the day and night would be exactly 12 hours long. But that is not the case. Sunrise and Sunset are defined as the exact moment the upper edge of the Sun’s disk touches the eastern and the western horizon, respectively. The time it takes for the Sun to fully set, which can be several minutes, makes the day just a bit longer than the night on the equinoxes.

The day with the same sunrise & sunset time is September 25th. The sun still does rise directly in the east & set directly in the west, so don’t forget to pack your sunglasses – a lot of our roads are laid out east/west making the sunrise and sunset around the equinox sun a positively blinding proposition!

Scott took this photo of the St Joseph Lighthouse on September 21, 2020. See more in his awesome Lighthouses gallery on Flickr & enjoy a selfie he took of the last summer sunset of 2014 below!

Last Summer Sunset Selfie by Scott Glenn

Reaching for Summer’s Light

Posted on September 21, 2021 by farlane

Reaching for the light by Mike Carey

In just over a day – 3:20 PM tomorrow at the vernal equinox to be precise – Summer 2021 will be in the books. Here’s hoping you get a little of that summer light before it’s all gone!

See more in Mike’s Lake Michigan 2021 gallery on Flickr.

Goodbye Summer

Posted on September 21, 2020September 21, 2025 by farlane

Goodbye Summer 2016 by Scott Glenn

The Old Farmer’s Almanac says that the autumnal equinox arrives tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22 at 9:31 AM:

The word “equinox” comes from Latin aequus, meaning “equal,” and nox, “night.” On the equinox, day and night are roughly equal in length. (See more about this below.)

During the equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”—an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through this line. When the Sun crosses the equator from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox; when it crosses from south to north, this marks the vernal equinox.

Scott took this photo on the final day of the summer of 2016 at the St. Joseph Lighthouse. See more in his massive Lighthouses gallery on Flickr.

In Honor of the Vernal Equinox

Posted on March 21, 2020 by farlane

In Honor of the Vernal Equinox by Cherie

In Honor of the Vernal Equinox, photo by Cherie

SORRY FOLKS – STILL GETTING BACK INTO THE SWING OF THINGS! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO POST YESTERDAY, SO I GUESS WE HAVE A 2 FOR 1 SALE GOING ON!!

The vernal equinox heralding the start of Spring happened at 11:50 PM Thursday night. EarthSky editor Deborah Byrd’s article on the vernal equinox has a ton of great information, video, and illustrations and explains:

…there’s nothing official about it, it’s traditional to say the upcoming March or vernal equinox signals the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. This equinox does provide a hallmark for the sun’s motion in our sky, marking that special moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator going from south to north … At the equinox, Earth’s two hemispheres are receiving the sun’s rays equally. Night and day are approximately equal in length. The word equinox comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night).

Read on for more including how you can mark due east and west from any location on the equinox!

You can see lots more from Cherie in her Flora & Foliage set on Flickr & see tons & bunches more flowers on Michigan in Pictures! Happy Spring everyone!

Dawn on the Vernal Equinox

Posted on March 19, 2017March 20, 2026 by farlane

Suttons Bay … vernal equinox sunrise panorama, photo by Ken Scott Photography

Monday’s Michigan in Pictures is coming to you a little early so you have a chance to be aware of the vernal equinox tomorrow morning (Monday, March 20, 2017) at 6:29 AM EST. EarthSky editor Deborah Byrd’s article on the vernal equinox has a ton of great information, video, and illustrations and explains:

…there’s nothing official about it, it’s traditional to say the upcoming March or vernal equinox signals the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. This equinox does provide a hallmark for the sun’s motion in our sky, marking that special moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator going from south to north … At the equinox, Earth’s two hemispheres are receiving the sun’s rays equally. Night and day are approximately equal in length. The word equinox comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night).

Read on for more including how you can mark due east and west from any location on the equinox!

View the photo bigger, get ready for the season with Ken’s Spring slideshow, and definitely join 25,000+ followers of Ken Scott Photography on Facebook!

Below is another shot from the same morning – Suttons Bay Sunrise … morning findings featuring a formation of geese at the very top!