AUSTIN (KXAN) — The chilly air that settled into Central Texas to wrap up spring break stayed 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 was the fifth-coldest spring equinox 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.

Camp Mabry recorded a high of 57º this year, which ranked as the fifth-coldest equinox in recorded history. This also made Monday the coldest spring equinox since 1983 when we had a high of 54º.

Recent spring equinoxes

In the five spring equinoxes prior to Monday, we’ve experienced warm temperatures. In 2022 we hit 80º and two years earlier we hit the mid 80s.

Spring equinox temperatures in Austin the last five years
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.