Have you ever wondered why the date of Easter changes every year? AccuWeather's Ariella Scalese explains.
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00:00Have you ever wondered why the date of Easter seems to change every year?
00:04Well, you're not alone.
00:05Today we're going to unravel the mystery of how the date of Easter is determined.
00:09So grab your calendars and let's hop right into it.
00:13First, let's start off with the basics.
00:15Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
00:18But why does it move around on our calendars?
00:22The answer lies in the moon.
00:23Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.
00:30The spring equinox is the moment when day and night are nearly equal in length,
00:34marking the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.
00:37This usually happens around March 20th or 21st.
00:39So let's break it down step by step and take a look at our calendar here.
00:44First, we want to find the vernal equinox this year.
00:46That was on March 20th.
00:48And then you'll check for the full moon after the vernal equinox.
00:52Now, this one's a little tricky because the full moon is Saturday evening for Eastern Standard Time.
00:59But for UTC time, that's going to be on Sunday morning.
01:02So therefore, Easter will be celebrated the following Sunday on April 20th.
01:08Passover, a significant Jewish holiday, also changes year to year.
01:11It begins on the 15th day of Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew calendar.
01:15The calendar is lunisolar, meaning it takes into account both the moon cycles and the solar year.
01:20Therefore, the timing of Passover varies each year, but it too always aligns with the full moon following the vernal equinox.
01:27Passover begins at sundown on Saturday, April 12th and ends at nightfall on Sunday, April 20th.
01:32So the two religious holidays overlap for one day.
01:36Thanks for enjoying us on this egg-citing journey.
01:39And remember, you can check the Easter forecast for your location.
01:42And don't forget, you can also use MinuteCast on the day of the holiday to see if precipitation will put a pause on those egg huts.