AUSTIN (KXAN) — The chilly air that has settled into Central Texas to wrap up spring break looks like it will stay with us for the first day of spring.
Looking back at data for Austin’s Camp Mabry — a dataset that stretches back to 1898 — this could be one of the coldest spring equinoxes ever.
The spring equinox doesn’t always fall on the same day each year. While most of the time it’s on March 20, it can also fall on March 19 or March 21.
To figure out the coldest spring equinoxes ever, we had to look at the high temperature data for March 19-21 and cross check those days with the dates of the spring equinox.
The coldest first day of spring had a high of 48º back in 1965 and 1970. Those were the only times spring has been in the 40s in Austin.
We’re currently forecasting a high of 58º this spring equinox, which would make it among the coldest equinoxes in recorded history.
Coldest spring equinox in Austin
This would also mean that we’re forecasting the coldest spring equinox since 1983 when we had a high of 54º.
Recent spring equinoxes
Over the last five years we’ve experienced warm starts to spring. In 2022 we hit 80º and two years earlier we hit the mid 80s.
Spring equinox temperatures in Austin the last five years
For perspective, the average high temperature on the first day of spring in Austin is 74º.
NOTE: A previous title of this story incorrectly stated it could be the coldest spring equinox in 30 years. In fact, it could be the coldest in 40 years.