The earliest since 1896, in fact:
The vernal equinox — the first day of spring — [arrived today at] (March 20) at 05:14 Universal Time, or 1:14 a.m. EDT. Even more intriguing is that for those in the Mountain and Pacific Time zones, the equinox [actually arrived last night] (March 19).
The cherry blossoms have also come early to DC:
[Jason Samenow's] analysis of temperatures and blooms dates reveals Washington’s average March temperature has warmed 2.3 degrees in the last 90 years and that the cherry blossom peak bloom date has shifted a little more than 5 days earlier (based on simple linear regression).
(Photo by Ned Martel)
The Dish 