Somebody help me here. I am trying to clarify which months belong in which seasons
I think
Spring - February, March, Arpril
Summer - May, June, July
Autumn - August, September, October
Winter- November, December, January
Somebody is trying to convince me that autumn doesnt start until september with the effect that winter is December, January, February.
I have been told this may have a US/Europeaa bias to it i.e. Mine id the European version but the person I was talking to was using the american version.
The boundaries traditionally fall on the vernal and autumnal equinox and the winter and summer solstice (not sure on the plural of these words: equinoxes, solstices?)
Vernal (spring) equinox = March 20 or 21
Summer solstice = June 21 or 22
Autumnal (fall) equinox = Sept 22 or 23
Winter solstice = December 22 or 23
These would be reversed in the Southern Hemisphere. Anyway, these are decent demarcations for the season, but will of course vary with latitude. As you get closer to the Equator you begin to lose any sense of season.
As you move closer to the poles you distort the winter to an extreme, not sure how this plays out with other seasons.
But using the above, the seasons for the temperate Northern Hemisphere would be as follows:
Spring = late March, April, May and the beginning of June
Summer = late June, July, August and the beginning of September
Fall = late September, October, November and early December
Winter = late December, January, February and early March.
For my personal perspective I would use the whole of the first month on that list and lop off the end month on each.
My favourite definition of the four seasons (Vivaldi aside) is the Swedish:
[ul][li]Summer is when the average temperature is above +10°C[/li][li]Winter is when the average temperature is below 0°C[/li][li]Spring and Autumn fit in between[/li][/ul] Link (in Swedish)
After all, it’s more important what the weather’s like, than what the calendar says.
Like ShibbOleth said, I usually hear that, on paper, the equinox and soltices are used to declare the beginning of a season. However, I have also heard that this is not official &/or mandatory. For example, some people consider summer to end when schools re-open. Or, some consider summer = hottest months and winter = coldest months with snow (which in my area means summer = June, July, August and winter = December, January, February).
Thanks TC, so this a European/US bias (well Irish/US bias but when did we irish ever care what the rest of Europe thought?) thing which means I am right. Thank You. Though the master did have the cheek to say
TO this I heartily disagree. It is our “dismal climate” which is responsible for the rolling green fields so beloved of tourists. Despite all the complaining we Irish do about the weather there isnt one among us who would change it.
In tropical Australia at least summer is generally considered to be December, January & February, the three hottest and wettest months of the year. June, July & August are the three coldest months and naturally make winter.
My father, who was from the real extreme far North in Sweden, prefered to dress according the calendar, or rather according to the usual weather where he grew up. Thus he started wearing long underwear in September/October, even if it was +15-20°C outside.
BTW I always thought that that was the standard way for meteorologists to separate between the seasons, not a particularly Swedish way.
