Also, the solstices and equinoxes mark the transitions between the astronomical seasons, but don’t usually line up with the meteorological seasons, which are much more relevant to most people’s actual experience.
Because, true to their names, astronomical seasons are based on the position of Earth in its orbit around the sun, whereas meteorological seasons are based on yearly temperature changes. The former is irrelevant to most people’s lives, where the latter is pretty significant to most people. Of course, the latter also varies a great deal depending on where you live, whereas the former is true everywhere on Earth, so it’s a more convenient touchpoint when communicating with people from other parts of the world.
www.metoffice.gov.uk
www.almanac.com
This was new to me as well. So who does use astronomical seasons? I guess USA, but who else?UK Met Office: The seasons are defined as spring (March, April, May), summer (June, July, August), autumn (September, October, November) and winter (December, January, February).
When does spring start?
How you define the first day of spring depends on whether you are referring to the astronomical or meteorological spring..
I'd actually never heard of seasons starting with solstice or equinox, the solstices being commonly known as Midwinter & Midsummer. According toWhen Do the Seasons Start and End in 2024?
When do the four seasons start in 2024—for spring, summer, fall, and winter? Here are the equinox and solstice dates—plus, answers to common questions about the seasons of the year in North America.
The Definition of a “Season”
Here is more explanation about how astronomers and meteorologists define seasons differently:
- The astronomical start of a season is based on the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun. More specifically, the start of each season is marked by either a solstice (for winter and summer) or an equinox (for spring and autumn). A solstice is when the Sun reaches the most southerly or northerly point in the sky, while an equinox is when the Sun passes over Earth’s equator. Because of leap years, the dates of the equinoxes and solstices can shift by a day or two over time, causing the start dates of the seasons to shift, too.
- In contrast, the meteorological start of a season is based on the annual temperature cycle and the 12-month calendar. According to this definition, each season begins on the first of a particular month and lasts for three months: Spring begins on March 1, summer on June 1, autumn on September 1, and winter on December 1. Climate scientists and meteorologists created this definition to make it easier to keep records of the weather, since the start of each meteorological season doesn’t change from year to year.
Yeah but you have a highly venomous spider on your postage stamps! At least you still use feet and inches, so it's not totally backwards.
Well, I can't see any season actually being Lawful. I mean in the desert summer might be, but then we get the monsoons, and they are pure chaos.
No, not in the USA.
But when the adventurers hit Fall.... how much bludgeoning damage do they take?
Shipping is significantly more clear across the board, based on my day job experience, but announcing a release window so far in advance was certainly still risky.
I think you might be getting NZ confused with Australia. Everything over there is highly venomous! And NZ doesn’t use feet and inches. It’s all metric.Yeah but you have a highly venomous spider on your postage stamps! At least you still use feet and inches, so it's not totally backwards.
