Mid-Missouri set to experience coldest Easter since 1996

If you have plans to do any Easter egg hunting this weekend, you may want to do it before Easter Sunday. Thanks to a fairly strong spring cold front, we’ll see one of the coldest Easters since the late 1990s. Cold air that has been pooling into Canada will slowly filter into Mid-Missouri into the weekend and will bring highs in the upper 30s and lower 40s for the holiday. There’s also a chance that parts of Mid-Missouri could see some light snow in the forecast.

The return to winter conditions, has many asking about Easter cold snaps and just how common they are. Is there something about the holiday that leads to cold air filtering into the country or is just a matter of chance? The Easter holiday will always fall somewhere between March 22 and April 25 (more on that later), which also happens to be the time where winter and spring are battling out the seasons. By the time Easter has rolled around, many of us have already enjoyed several mild and pleasant days. This leads many outdoors, the jackets put away, and even opening windows on nice days. And then, in a matter of hours, we can return to winter conditions, thanks to a fairly slow-moving storm system. During the early spring season, upper-level systems don’t have the same support as they do during the winter; this leads to slower-moving systems that can funnel colder air into the country.

This trend for cold air is likely to continue into April. While we will see some mild days here and there, the overall weather pattern will likely keep cooler conditions here in Mid-Missouri. This slow start to the spring season will likely also lead to a delay in our severe weather season.

So a cold Easter is expected for Mid-Missouri, but have you ever wondered why Easter falls on different days every year? Easter is deeply rooted in Christianity, which plays a big role in when Easter will occur each year. The timing of the holiday has everything to do with the March Equinox and the first full moon following the equinox. Christ’s resurrection happened after the Jewish Passover, which is celebrated after the first full moon of the equinox. It all boils down to Passover and Easter being tied to the lunar and solar cycles.

Stay with ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather as we continue to track active weather as we head into the spring months and follow us on Twitter @ABC17Stormtrack.