# Northern hemisphere persons: is it summer yet, or must we wait till tomorrow? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232 "2014-06-20T18:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/1 "2014-06-20T18:46:00Z")
Suggested by a conversation I just had with an idiot related to me, in which the idiot claimed that it is currently summer in Argentina.) In the northern hemispshere, 21st June is the day of the summer solstice. Many persons refer to that event as the first day of summer, but that’s never seemed right to me. The solstice is the day when the sun’s apparent path is furthest north or south of the equator, and there are two each year; _summer_ solstice means the the day is the year’s longest, and _winter_ solstice, the shortest. (Obviously the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere is the winter solstice in the southern, and vice versa.) But all that is about astronomy, not meteorology; it’s always seemed to me that the seasons should really be defined by average temperatures, amount of rainfall, and so forth. Here in Memphis it’s been summer since at least the first of June, and really since early May. People who call the solstices and equinoxes the “official” start of summer, winter, spring, and autumn are so full of shit they cannot possibly have assholes. But that’s just me. Which definitions do you go by? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/2 "2014-06-20T18:48:14Z")
It’s going to hit 90, and it’s humid. It’s summer. I, also, don’t buy into the seasons being defined by the dates of the solstices and equinoxes (if those are the correct plurals). ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/3 "2014-06-20T18:49:31Z")
I’m in Texas,it’s 98f with 78% humidity. Honey,it’s here and gonna be here until December ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/4 "2014-06-20T19:23:15Z")
I’ve always gone with the meteorological sense, at least in those standard “weather” conversations. As often as not, New England tends to skip straight from 70 degrees to 90, so it’s a pretty obvious transition. Also, in my mind, you’re serving those lemonades you can get at the fair, with fresh lemons and a ton of sugar. Perfect for Friday afternoon when work can’t get out fast enough! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/5 "2014-06-20T19:34:57Z")
I dunno. I don’t particularly care if Summer begins on the 21st of June, but I know that summer begins when I start contemplating buying corona and limes. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/6 "2014-06-20T19:37:35Z")
I voted “yes”, but I’d also like to make mine beer. Beer goes great on a late spring day! ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/7 "2014-06-20T19:50:04Z")
When my weatherman says it’s summer, it’s summer. Pretty simple. And yeah - beer. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/8 "2014-06-20T19:51:20Z")
I define the seasons either astronomically or according to the academic calendar. Either way, climate and temperature is totally irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/9 "2014-06-20T19:51:57Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > I voted “yes”, but I’d also like to make mine beer. Beer goes great on a late spring day! :: teleports FtP a sixpack of lukewarm beers kept on hand for just this occasion :: ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/10 "2014-06-20T19:53:04Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > I define the seasons either astronomically or according to the academic calender. Either way, climate and temperature is totally irreverent. Yes, this. But, while I may call May-early June “summer” (since school is done), in my heart I know it’s not really. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/11 "2014-06-20T20:04:17Z")
I hate it when weathermen say, “today is the _official_ start of summer” (on June 20-21.) I don’t believe an organization exists for setting the official start of seasons. Maybe I’m wrong. It was almost 100 degress in DC this week. If that ain’t summer, I don’t know what is. Besides, everyone knows summer starts on Memorial day. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/12 "2014-06-20T20:41:05Z")
It is glorious beautiful sunny summer and all winter lovers can bite me. Love it! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/13 "2014-06-20T21:12:34Z")
There’s nothing “official” about when the seasons start and end, and if there were, it certainly wouldn’t be the solstices. Summer started many weeks ago and winter starts well before Dec. 21 or whatever. I always go by the convenient rule of thumb that the summer is June, July and August. Autumn is Sept-Nov. Winter is Dec-Feb and spring from March-May. The weather might not always cooperate, but that gives us license to complain that “this is a mild winter” or “colder than average spring.” ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/14 "2014-06-20T21:15:53Z")
By the way, Cecil agrees that the solstices/equinoxes are [irrelevant](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/161/is-it-true-summer-in-ireland-starts-may-1): > [@Cecil](#): > > There is a widespread misconception in this country–which extends, I might note, to the makers of most calendars, dictionaries, and encyclopedias–that summer “officially” starts on the day of the summer solstice, June 21 or 22, which is the longest day of the year. Americans also believe (1) that there is some valid scientific reason for doing it that way, and (2) that everybody in the Northern Hemisphere does it that way, and always has. > > None of these things is true. So far as I have been able to discover, no scientific or governmental body has ever formally declared that summer starts on the solstice. > > Certainly there is no good scientific reason for doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/15 "2014-06-20T21:16:30Z")
Here in the GTA it’s been summery for at least a week. We’ve already had our first tornado. School is out (I graduated yesterday! 🙂 ) and lawns are thickly green. I’ve been going outside assuming I don’t need a jacket. THAT is the definition of summer. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/16 "2014-06-20T21:19:12Z")
I used to think June-July-August made more sense as summer, since it more closely aligns with the hottest 1/4 of the year than summer solstice-autumnal equinox. But that meant summer ended before I was ready for it to end. I’d kind of go with it starting on the summer solstice, but the summer solstice is my wedding anniversary, so think about that, instead of summer. So I voted beer. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/17 "2014-06-20T21:21:09Z")
Astronomical facts aside, as far as I’m concerned it’s been summer down here since the middle of May, and that’s late for us. Usually it’s the beginning of May, but we actually had a spring this year that lasted longer than a week or two. It was nice. Weird, but nice. Summer for me is when I can go outside in the evening without sleeves and not shiver. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/18 "2014-06-20T21:40:41Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Suggested by a conversation I just had with an idiot related to me, in which the idiot claimed that it is currently summer in Argentina.) By which of the many plausible definitions of “summer” does your related idiot claim it is currently summer in Argentina? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/19 "2014-06-20T21:45:33Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > By which of the many plausible definitions of “summer” does your related idiot claim it is currently summer in Argentina? He says that when it’s summer is a reference to the time of year–that is, the months June, July, and August–rather than to temperature and precipitation conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232/20 "2014-06-20T22:03:39Z")
I just think of spring as being a hot-ending season. I have no need to call any hot day a summer day because ‘hot spring day’ suffices. Similarly, summer ends a bit chilly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-hemisphere-persons-is-it-summer-yet-or-must-we-wait-till-tomorrow/691232.md?page=2)