Seasonal Annoyances

I had a whole post written out the other day, about how I get annoyed when people don't seem to know the dates for seasonal change.

I ranted and I raved about the idiocy of such people, and the ignorance.

I wanted to prove myself right, so I went to the fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia, to confirm the dates I'd been told since I even knew what months and days were.

Apparently, there are two different main 'calendars' by which the turning of the seasons can be followed: Meteorological, and Astronomical. According to what Wiki has to say on the matter, the UK usually (but not exclusively) follow the meteorological calendar, but I've always been led to believe that the astronomical calendar is the more correct. In fact, I didn't even know there WAS a meteorological calendar until I searched the topic earlier this week.

The meteoro- y'know what, I'ma just call them the M-calendar and the A-calendar, for simplicity...

*ahem*

The M-calendar goes a little something like this...
In the Northern Hemisphere:
Spring begins on March 1
Summer begins on June 1
Autumn begins on September 1
Winter begins on December 1.

In the Southern hemisphere:
Spring begins on September 1
Summer begins on December 1
Autumn begins on March 1
Winter begins on June 1.

The A-calendar (the one I follow) reads this way...
In the Northern Hemisphere:
Winter (89 days) begins on 21 December, the winter solstice
Spring (92 days) begins on 20 March, the vernal equinox
Summer (93 days) begins on 20 June, the summer solstice
Autumn (90 days) begins on 22 September, the autumnal equinox.

In the Southern Hemisphere:
Well, that's where it seems to get complicated. Wiki says the following:
"Because of the differences in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, it is no longer considered appropriate to use the northern-seasonal designations for the astronomical quarter days. The modern convention for them is: March Equinox; June Solstice; September Equinox; and December Solstice."

And then, after all that, there're still the 'Traditional' seasons, where the solstice and equinox days in the above A-calendar are the seasonal mid-points, instead of the starting points:
Note: Northern Hemisphere only.
Winter begins between 5 November and 10 November (Samhain)
*mid-winter between 20 December and 23 December*
Spring begins between 2 February and 7 February (Imbolc)
*mid-spring between 19 March and 22 March*
Summer begins between 4 May and 10 May (Beltane)
*mid-summer between 19 June and 23 June*
Autumn begins between 3 August and 10 August (Lughnasadh)
*mid-autumn between 21 September and 24 September*


....no wonder we all get so bloody confused!!

8:13 AM - September 5, 2008 - post comment

I can't believe you did all that research.
There are only two seasons to me:

1) Swimming weather

2) Non-swimming weather


*grabs towel and runs off down the sand to the water*

cherry - 1:23 AM - September 27, 2008

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