Sunday, September 23, 2012

Season Trivia


Curiosity once again got the better of me.  Love google.  My SIL who lives in Florida, USA commented on facebook yesterday that she is keen for Autumn to start on the 23rd September.  I thought this was odd as here in Australia our seasons start at the 1st of a month.  Yes, I googled and this is an explanation I came up with.  Thought I would share.

In countries such as the UK, Denmark, Ireland and Australia the seasons are simply decided according to the Roman calendar, with the seasons decided by the hottest / coldest quarters of the year and beginning on the first of the month.
So Autumn - March 1st
Winter - June 1st
Spring - September 1st
Summer December 1st
and reverse for the opposite hemisphere.

For countries such as the United States, the seasons are determined Astrologically - and begin at the solstice and equinoxes. So spring begins when the days hit equal length then get longer, autumn when they hit equal length then get shorter etc.
Thus spring - March 19 - 22 - the spring equinox
Summer - 19 - 23 June - the summer solstice
Autumn - 21 - 24 Sept - the autumn equinox
Winter 20 - 23 Dec - the winter solstice
and vice versa for the opposite hemispheres. 

4 comments:

  1. I wondered this myself when I heard an American friend say that today! Thanks for the info

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  2. Interesting. I had no idea. You're right, Google is great.

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  3. Yes, Google is great and this is interesting - we also use the equinox and wind to determine whether it will be a good summer or not (warm and mild or wet and blowing). If it blows hard before the equinox down here - not so good. This year is not looking that hot!

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  4. Cool...I learned something too! Thanks for sharing! Another piece of info...most people I know just say that the first day of the season is on the 21st of those months. I never knew it could vary a few days!

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