Sunburn season has returned to Michiana (though it really never left)

 

If you're like me, you thoroughly enjoyed the abundant sunshine across Michiana this past weekend, a part of one of the sunnier months of March in recent memory.

However, also like me and our own meteorologist Maci Tetrick, you might have noticed a bit of sunburn after all the time outside.

Sometimes Mother Nature can give you a painful reminder that sunburn can happen at any time of year! However, you may not associate sunburn with the spring season because temperatures aren't as warm as during the summer months.

The problem is: sunburn doesn't really have anything to do with the air temperature. It is directly related to sun angle (or sun strength, if you will).

The sun angle at solar peak Monday was around 50 degrees. Michiana also sees a matching sun angle of about 50 degrees on September 19. 

So, if you can get a sunburn in the middle of September (when it technically is still summer), you can sure get one now!

The amount of daylight is continuing to increase as we...well...march through March. Our first taste of 13 hours of daylight arrives in just a few weeks, with more than 14 hours of daylight arriving on May 1.

That means more opportunities for sunburn throughout the spring as well!

This week, we do have our fair share of clouds and shower chances in the forecast. However, when the sun is out, the UV Index will be in the moderate category. Sunburn times could be as low as 30 minutes!

So, you may need to lather up the sunscreen, even if it doesn't feel like beach weather yet across Michiana.