Spring set to arrive in Waterloo region Tuesday, even if it doesn't feel like it

With temperatures barely expected to go above freezing and flurries in the forecast, you'd be forgiven for not realizing spring is set to arrive in Waterloo region on Tuesday.

The forecast includes flurries with up to two centimetres of snow expected and a high of 1 C.

Vernal equinox will officially take place at 11:06 p.m., which is when Environment Canada says there's a 60 per cent chance of snow and temperatures will dip to –5 C.

Spring usually arrives on March 20, but it's an hour earlier this year because of the leap day last month, explained Frank Seglenieks, co-ordinator of the University of Waterloo weather station who is also a water resources engineer for Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"We're kind of a day behind. So every four years, that date of the vernal equinox basically gets kind of reset. So it'll be March 19, and then it goes back to March 20 for three years and then the next leap year will go back to March 19," he told CBC News.

Some people may remember a time when spring started on March 21. That's an even more rare occurrence, Seglenieks said.

"We won't see another March 21 spring date in the Eastern Time Zone until way over in 2101. So we're going to have to wait a long time for that," he said.

Flowers like tulips, snowdrops and crocuses have started to pop out of the ground and some trees have buds, but people hoping for spring-like temperatures will have to wait for a bit.

The Environment Canada forecast for this week: