Longer days, shorter nights ahead–Pagasa

LONGER days and shorter nights are on the way as Wednesday marked the start of the vernal equinox, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

Vernal equinox, also known as the spring equinox, is an annual celestial phenomenon that happens when the sun shines directly on the equator, according to Pagasa.

“On the day of the equinox itself, in both northern and southern hemispheres, the lengths of daytime and nighttime are almost equal,” according to Dario de la Cruz, chief of Pagasa’s space science and astronomy division.

This event started at 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday, marking the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern atmosphere.

After the vernal equinox, days will be longer and nights will become shorter until midsummer season, de la Cruz said.

Equinoxes occur twice a year, with the spring equinox starting on March 21 and the autumnal equinox starting on September 22, he added.

Meanwhile, the northeast monsoon will continue to affect Northern Luzon on Wednesday.

Cagayan Valley and Aurora province will have cloudy skies with scattered rains caused by the northeast monsoon.

The same weather system will bring partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains over Cordillera Administrative Region and Ilocos Region.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers caused by localized thunderstorms, Pagasa said.