Spring officially begins on Monday, but some might say we never even had a winter this year.

It’s the vernal equinox, where both Earth’s hemispheres are receiving the same amount of sunlight.

Earth’s axis is neither tilted toward or away from the sun. This only occurs twice a year and on the equinoxes. On Monday, the sun’s rays will be directly overhead at the equator. The sun will appear to rise due east and set due west. Right around this time, the amount of daylight and nighttime is essentially the same or about 12 hours. If you check the almanac, you’ll see that Friday’s sunrise and sunset times are exactly 12 hours apart.

From this point on, the days will get longer until the summer solstice in June in the Northern Hemisphere.