When does Summer start?

[Evastar]

i believe summer to start on 1st may and last for may, june and july. then august, september and october are autumn, november, december and january are winter, and february, march and april are spring. that's what i was taught in school anyway.

there appear to be differing opinions on this?

[GastonJ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)

In most North Temperate Zone locations, spring months are March, April and May[1] (Summer is June, July, August; autumn is September, October, November; winter is December, January, February).

[Evastar]

yes that would make more sense gaston, as june july and august are generally warmer, but it's not what i was taught in school.

and if you look at the summer solstice, which is 21st june, it makes sense for that to be in the middle of the summer, same as winter solstice (21st december) being in the middle of winter

[GastonJ]

Well Eva post a link to your facts and we'll go from there

[Evastar]

List of winter festivals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Celtic

• Samhain: 31 October-1 November - first day of winter in the Celtic calendar (and Celtic New Year's Day)
• Winter Solstice: 21 December-22 December - midwinter
• Imbolc: 1 February - first day of spring in the Celtic calendar
• Calan Gaeaf, Wales

and the summer festival is Bealtaine, 1st May

Beltane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[GastonJ]

Eva, MJ is correct, I'm male and therefore wrong - as is the rest of the male world Have spring etc when you feel like it

[Evastar]

actually i'm looking at this logically and scientifically as well as historically.

it doesnt make sense scientifically for summer to start on summer solstice, as that is the longest night of the year. it make sense for it to start six weeks beforehand, which is around the start of may. which also fits in historically with the celebration of bealtine, as does the august harvest festival coincide with the start of autumn.

could it possibly be that they were changed deliberately to take power away from the old religions? oh no, the church wouldnt have done that, now would they?

[GastonJ]

the churches will do anything to gain more minions and more revenue and that's all religions.

[Evastar]

oh i totally agree, organised religion is all about power and money, no matter how pure the intention was in the first place.

power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

so you do agree that it's the christian church that changed the start of summer from those dates, probably deliberately to take attention away from the old pagan festivals?

[nara]

When does Summer start?

You've missed it Eva.

It was that nice week we had back in April.

[shellbob]

Summer in Northern Ireland starts on one day and finishes the same day

[chroma]

7th of April by my thinking.

Spring Equinox (12hrs of light and dark) is in the 21st of March, marking the high point of the sine wave i figure.
wind forward 91 days to the longest day of the year (Summer Solstice on the 21st of June and your at the high peak of summer)
Logically then the bottom of the trough represents the ending of one and beginning of the other.
And unless orbits work logarithmically, instead of linearly the mid point would be 45.5 days between the 21st of March and the 21st of June. or wind up at the 7th of April at mid day.

I figure it works the same with the rest of the seasons, just add up the days between the solstice to the equinox and divide by two.
This of course is working solely from the Gregorian calendar, there are other calendars used in different cultures and ages past that would see things differ from the astronomical definitions.

[dewahow]

I think summer holiday in Tunisia is my next action

[dewahow]

do not understand these forums thank you anyway

[nara]

do not understand these forums

Don't worry, neither does meat-head.