My husband and I argue about this at least once a year. The longest day of the year shouldn't be the beginning of summer - it should be the middle of summer. That is peak summer. Same with the winter solstice and the equinoxes - those should be the middle of the seasons, not the beginning.

by Anonymous 2 hours ago

Observed seasons lag behind astronomical ones by several weeks, the exact amount depending on location. There is a reason why we use calendar seasons instead of astronomical ones. Those are useful for the position of the sun, which most people are not concerned about.

by Elisha07 2 hours ago

There's an old question about what moves north against traffic at 2 miles per hour. It's spring.

by Anonymous 1 hour ago

The tropics absolutely fit the astronomical seasons. What do you think the Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer represent? As with many things, there's official terminology and there's the terminology used in common speech. You're conflating the two.

by Little_Yak 1 hour ago

Plus in Australia we use what I have just now learned are called "meteorological seasons". I'm always confused when I see people online talking about seasons randomly changing partway through a month or going longer because an immortal beaver thing saw its shadow?

by Anonymous 1 hour ago

Astronomical seasons will always be astronomical season for astronomical reasons. However, there is another way to determine seasons based on weather phenomena: METEOROLOGICAL SEASONS They are as follows for the Northern Hemisphere 01 March to 31 May - Spring 01 June to 31 August - Summer 01 September to 30 November - Autumn/Fall 01 December to 28/29 February - Winter For the Southern Hemisphere, they would be: 01 March to 31 May - Autumn/Fall 01 June to 31 August - Winter 01 September to 30 November - Spring 01 December to 28/29 February - Summer

by Anonymous 1 hour ago