First Day of Spring 2027 and Every Equinox and Solstice

The first day of spring 2027 is Saturday, March 20, 2027, when the March equinox arrives at 4:24 p.m. EDT (20:24 UTC). Summer starts on Monday, June 21, fall on Thursday, September 23, and winter on Tuesday, December 21, 2027, in US Eastern time.

Those are the astronomical seasons, set by the moments of the equinoxes and solstices. Weather services use a simpler set, the meteorological seasons, which always start on the first of a month. This guide gives the exact 2027 times in Eastern, Pacific and UTC, explains both systems, shows why the dates wander between the 19th and the 23rd, and covers the Southern Hemisphere.

Equinoxes and solstices 2027

Watch the edges of the day. The September equinox comes so early on September 23 in the East that on the West Coast it’s still the evening of September 22, so fall 2027 starts on a different date in California than in New York. The December solstice does the reverse with UTC: it’s December 21 everywhere in the US but already December 22 in the UK and Europe. Count down with our days until spring and days until summer pages.

What equinoxes and solstices are

The seasons come from the tilt of Earth’s axis, about 23.5 degrees, not from its distance to the sun. As Earth orbits, first one hemisphere and then the other leans toward the sun and gets more direct sunlight and longer days.

• Equinoxes (March and September) are the moments when the sun passes directly over the equator. Neither hemisphere is tilted toward it.
• Solstices (June and December) are the moments when the tilt toward or away from the sun is greatest. The June solstice brings the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the December solstice the shortest.

Each is an instant, not a whole day, which is why the “first day of spring” depends on your time zone.

Astronomical vs meteorological seasons

Meteorologists split the year into four blocks of three whole months. According to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, this keeps seasons a consistent 90 to 92 days and lines them up with monthly records, which makes climate statistics much easier to compare from year to year.

Meteorological winter 2026–27 starts on Tuesday, December 1, 2026, nearly three weeks before the solstice. When a forecaster says “the warmest summer on record”, they usually mean June, July and August. When a calendar says “first day of summer”, it means the solstice. Both are correct; they answer different questions.

How long each season lasts in 2027

Earth’s orbit is slightly elliptical, so, as NOAA notes, the astronomical seasons aren’t equal in length. Measured from instant to instant:

• Winter 2026–27 (December 21, 2026 to March 20, 2027): 88 days, 23 hours, 34 minutes.
• Spring 2027: 92 days, 17 hours, 46 minutes.
• Summer 2027: 93 days, 15 hours, 51 minutes.
• Fall 2027 (to the December 2027 solstice): 89 days, 20 hours, 41 minutes.

So in the Northern Hemisphere, spring and summer together last about a week longer than fall and winter.

Why the dates move from year to year

A calendar year of 365 days is about a quarter of a day shorter than the cycle of the seasons. Each year the equinoxes and solstices arrive almost six hours later on the clock, until a leap day pulls the date back by one. You can see it in the March equinox:

In 2028, a leap year, spring starts on March 19 across the US. The other three events follow the same pattern, which is why the June solstice can fall on June 20 or 21 and the September equinox on September 22 or 23.

The seasons in the Southern Hemisphere

South of the equator the seasons are reversed but begin at the same instants, as NOAA’s seasons infographic shows. The March 20, 2027 equinox is the first day of fall in Australia, Argentina and South Africa, and the June 21 solstice is their shortest day. If you’re traveling south or planning with a team there, flip the labels but keep the dates.

Planning around the 2027 seasons

• Daylight saving time starts on March 14, 2027, six days before the equinox, so evenings are already lighter when spring begins. Our daylight saving time guide has the details.
• The Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the September equinox, is on September 15, 2027. See all the dates in our 2027 full moon calendar.
• The next season change from today is the winter solstice on Monday, December 21, 2026, 80 days from October 2, 2026; spring 2027 is 169 days away. The winter countdown tracks it.

Frequently asked questions

When is the first day of spring 2027?

Saturday, March 20, 2027. The March equinox is at 4:24 p.m. EDT, 1:24 p.m. PDT and 20:24 UTC.

When is the first day of summer 2027?

Monday, June 21, 2027, at the June solstice, 10:10 a.m. EDT. It’s the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

When does fall start in 2027?

Thursday, September 23, 2027 at 2:01 a.m. EDT. On the West Coast that’s 11:01 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, September 22.

What’s the difference between meteorological and astronomical spring?

Meteorological spring always runs from March 1 to May 31. Astronomical spring starts at the March equinox, around March 20, and ends at the June solstice.

Is the equinox always on March 21?

No. In US Eastern time it falls on March 20 in 2026, 2027, 2029 and 2030, and on March 19 in 2028. It doesn’t fall on March 21 in any of those years.