Click here to view the original article

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the first day of spring in Pointe-Claire began on Friday, March 20, 2026, at 10:46 a.m. EDT. The vernal equinox marks the astronomical start of the season and is one of the two moments of the year when the Sun is exactly above the equator, the other being the autumnal equinox. At this point, with the Earth’s axis tilted neither toward nor away from the Sun, there is a nearly equal amount of daylight and darkness on that day. The true equilux, when day and night are equally long, occurs a few days before the vernal equinox and a few days after the autumnal one.

Meteorologists define spring differently, basing it on calendar months and the annual temperature cycle. This definition, which uses three-month groupings to define the season, sets meteorological spring as beginning on March 1st and ending on May 31st. This approach helps to compare seasonal statistics.

The beginning of spring is traditionally associated with renewal, fertility, and rebirth. It kicks off a season of planting and cultural and religious celebrations. Some of the more commonly celebrated occasions include Easter and its associated holidays; Nowruz, the Persian New Year; and Holi, the Hindu "Festival of Colours" or "Festival of Love." Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the end of winter and the start of spring, despite falling in January or February, in accordance with the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar.

That said, many activities in Pointe-Claire usually begin with the start of spring, including outdoor concerts, holiday celebrations, cultural activities, and the opening of restaurant terraces. With two villages and a stunning waterfront, Pointe-Claire has a lot to get excited about when the warmer weather arrives.

As for myself, summer is the season I enjoy the most, as long as it is not too hot with constant heat waves. Heat waves are still much better than the constant worry about ice storms (and their associated power outages) and flooding we’ve experienced in recent years.

And around here, it doesn’t take much for those concerns to resurface. The January 1998 ice storm still traumatizes me; I’m reminded of it every time we have any type of weather warning. That storm was one of the most severe natural disasters in Canadian history, leaving Montreal and the surrounding regions under thick ice for several days, causing widespread power outages, fatalities, and massive infrastructure damage.

It struck Montreal with a vengeance with the first wave of freezing rain hitting on January 5th, part of a series of five successive ice storms affecting eastern Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and parts of the northeastern United States. Montreal experienced persistent freezing rain, which accumulated up to 100mm of ice in some areas, coating trees, power lines, and roads. This event was not a single storm but a prolonged series of storms over nearly a week!

I was lucky, as most of my family was able to find refuge at a relative’s house that was on a grid that kept power on through the whole event. However, it was scary with the winds blowing close to hurricane strength!

The newest concern that comes with the weather — and I want to say extreme weather, but really it’s any weather — has to do with the REM, our new automated light rail system. REM service was suspended multiple times this winter because of snow (or sun, cold, wind, or nothing at all). Hopefully, when the new line opens this summer, everything will run smoothly.

With spring officially here, I’m ready to put aside all my worries about bad weather and look forward to what looks to be a terrific summer!

Bottom line: I love living in Pointe-Claire, winter, spring, summer, or fall!

Bonnie’s Babble will be back in June. Bonnie is a local writer, stand-up mirror comic, hamster tamer, and twist-tie collector. Feel free to contact her at bonnierwords@gmail.com with any ideas you may have.