I couldn’t believe how hot Calgary was in July '81. I went there to be in the Calgary Stampede parade, in a marching band. We had wool uniforms with those tall Buckingham-Palace-type hats. It was a 7-mile @!#?@! parade! We managed to come in 2nd in our category, and no heat-related problems.
Legendary? I’m Legendary? That’s cool!
In ancient and medieval India the number of seasons was considered to be six: spring (Sanskrit vasanta), hot (grisma), rains (varsas), autumn (sarad), winter or snowy (hemanta), cool (sisira). (Sorry, no diacriticals.)
So the basic answer seems to be that when you’re considering “seasons” meteorologically, you get quite a variety of answers depending on climate: wet/dry, warm/hot/cool/cold, or various combinations up to and including the frivolous answers about humorously identified seasons in Minnesota and Ithaca (which may not be as irrelevant to your question as they sounded, since that sort of local weather wisdom is probably the same way the various traditions about meteorological seasons originally got established in the first place).
But if you’re considering the astronomical phenomena of the equinoxes and solstices (which were very important throughout the ancient and medieval Eurasion astronomical tradition, and generally had major festivals associated with them), they naturally divide the year into four almost equal parts and it’s not a big stretch (in temperate zones, anyway) to match those up with meteorological seasons. (It’s not quite a perfect fit even for most of us in temperate climates, though, as the Master has noted.) Good enough for you?
Kimstu:
Interestingly enough, this co-incides quite well with the ancient Biblical seasons. According to the Midrash, the verse in Genesis 8:22 - “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” refers to the progression of seasons (G-d is promising that he will never again bring about a disaster, such as the flood, that will disturb the orderly progression of seasons.) The progression would be seedtime, summer, hot, harvest, winter, cool, each season lasting approximately two months.
Just a little footnote to this discussion…
The seasons are mostly controlled by the relative apparent position of the sun. There are two soltices and two equinoxes each year. This adds up to four events upon which to base a season. The year must be defined as the time between vernal equinoxes or the seasons will shift and Christmas, Easter, Forth of July, etc will appear to be happening at the “wrong” time.
Once people figure this stuff out, they will standardize on four seasons. Prior to that, they will examine the year and break it into logical pieces for their locality.
You can also read that as three ways of referring to two seasons, or four seasons (with cold=winter and heat=summer). The literary style of the Bible is big on repetition.
-Eric Cartman
cmkeller: Interestingly enough, this [the six traditional Indian seasons] co-incides quite well with the ancient Biblical seasons.
Neat! Except for the absence of “rains”, though; none of those all-important monsoons in the biblical Middle East. (Well, unless you’re counting the Big Monsoon when Noah built the boat… ;j )
And in south Texas they have two seasons:
three months of summer…
and nine months of hell