I’d expect the shortest day of the year to also be the coldest, with the coldest season of the year spreading out equally on both sides of it.
I’d expect the shortest day of the year to also be the coldest, with the coldest season of the year spreading out equally on both sides of it.
There are three popular reckonings for the 4 season model. The meteorological seasons, astronomical seasons, and solar seasons. The solar season places the solstices and equinoxes in the middle of each season. The meteorological seasons are based on temperature but these days are aligned with the months with summer/winter (depending on hemisphere) starting at the start of December and ending on the last day of February. The model the US uses is the astronomical model of seasons and makes the least sense to me, it places the start of each season on the solstices and equinoxes which means that midsummer is actually the start of summer there.
We do meteorological here in Australia so December to February style. I had no idea there were places that put the equinox as the start.
That said, dividing the year into 4 seasons has always seemed very reductive to me. Our local indigenous aboriginals describe the weather in 6 seasons. People who have spent a life time observing the weather in the course of earning a living can describe what changes in patterns to expect from month to month. Of course, this knowledge is only applicable locally.
Yeah the Sámi people of the Nordic countries have 8 seasons, so it is highly local how many seasons and when they change.
which country do you live in? I live in Noongar country, they also use 6 seasons and I think it is a much better system. The Noongar seasons are an ecological system based on changes in nature
I think they’re from Australia.
Yeh, no shit… So am I. https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia
Yeah noongar.
What do you mean when you say that the US uses this model and Australia uses that model? Who uses it and for what? In my country the government doesn’t tell us what season it is or what system to use. People just use whatever system they fancy and most likely it’s just based on gut feeling instead of a calendar day.
No one will look at you sceptically when you say “This is a cold winter” on a freezing November day, nor will the be confused if you say “What a nice spring day” on a sunny February afternoon.
People would 100% correct you if you use an alternative system.
I mean, obviously people would be confused if you called February “spring” in Australia, but then again you celebrate Christmas in summer 😁
If there are 2 things I hate, it’s off by one errors.
There’s 3 ways to model 4 seasons. All 3 ways recognize there are 4 seasons.