Summer

Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are longest and darkness hours are shortest, with day length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. The earliest sunrises and latest sunsets also occur near the date of the solstice. The date of the beginning of summer varies according to climate, tradition, and culture. When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.

summer

From an astronomical view, the equinoxes and solstices would be the middle of the respective seasons,[1][2] but sometimes astronomical summer is defined as starting at the solstice, the time of maximal insolation, often identified with the 21st day of June or December. By solar reckoning, summer instead starts on May Day and the summer solstice is Midsummer. A variable seasonal lag means that the meteorological centre of the season, which is based on average temperature patterns, occurs several weeks after the time of maximal insolation.[3]

The meteorological convention is to define summer as comprising the months of June, July, and August in the northern hemisphere and the months of December, January, and February in the southern hemisphere.[4][5] Under meteorological definitions, all seasons are arbitrarily set to start at the beginning of a calendar month and end at the end of a month.[4] This meteorological definition of summer also aligns with the commonly viewed notion of summer as the season with the longest (and warmest) days of the year, in which daylight predominates.

The meteorological reckoning of seasons is used in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Denmark, Russia and Japan. It is also used by many people in the United Kingdom and Canada. In Ireland, the summer months according to the national meteorological service, Met Éireann, are June, July and August. By the Irish calendar, summer begins on 1 May (Beltane) and ends on 31 July (Lughnasadh).[6]

Days continue to lengthen from equinox to solstice and summer days progressively shorten after the solstice, so meteorological summer encompasses the build-up to the longest day and a diminishing thereafter, with summer having many more hours of daylight than spring. Reckoning by hours of daylight alone, summer solstice marks the midpoint, not the beginning, of the seasons. Midsummer takes place over the shortest night of the year, which is the summer solstice, or on a nearby date that varies with tradition.

Where a seasonal lag of half a season or more is common, reckoning based on astronomical markers is shifted half a season.[7] By this method, in North America, summer is the period from the summer solstice (usually 20 or 21 June in the Northern Hemisphere) to the autumn equinox.[8][9][10]

Reckoning by cultural festivals, the summer season in the United States is traditionally regarded as beginning on Memorial Day weekend (the last weekend in May) and ending on Labor Day (the first Monday in September), more closely in line with the meteorological definition for the parts of the country that have four-season weather. The similar Canadian tradition starts summer on Victoria Day one week prior (although summer conditions vary widely across Canada's expansive territory) and ends, as in the United States, on Labour Day.

In some Southern Hemisphere countries such as Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, summer is associated with the Christmas and New Year holidays. Many families take extended holidays for two or three weeks or longer during summer.

In Chinese astronomy, summer starts on or around 5 May, with the jiéqì (solar term) known as lìxià (立夏), i.e. "establishment of summer", and it ends on or around 6 August.[citation needed]

In southern and southeast Asia, where the monsoon occurs, summer is more generally defined as lasting from March, April, May and June, the warmest time of the year, ending with the onset of the monsoon rains.[citation needed]

Because the temperature lag is shorter in the oceanic temperate southern hemisphere,[11] most countries in this region use the meteorological definition with summer starting on 1 December and ending on the last day of February.[12][13]

Thunderstorm season in the United States and Canada runs in the spring through summer but sometimes can run as late as October or even November in the fall. These storms can produce hail, strong winds and tornadoes, usually during the afternoon and evening.

Schools and universities typically have a summer break to take advantage of the warmer weather and longer days. In almost all countries, children are out of school during this time of year for summer break, although dates vary. Many families will take holidays for a week or two over summer, particularly in Southern Hemisphere Western countries with statutory Christmas and New Year holidays.

In England and Wales, school ends in mid-July and resumes again in early September. In Scotland, the summer holiday begins in late June and ends in mid-to late-August. Similarly, in Canada the summer holiday starts on the last or second-last Friday in June and ends in late August or on the first Tuesday of September, with the exception of when that date falls before Labour Day, in which case, ends on the second Tuesday of the month. In Russia the summer holiday begins at the end of May and ends on 31 August.

In the Southern Hemisphere, school summer holiday dates include the major holidays of Christmas and New Year's Day. School summer holidays in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa begin in early December and end in early February, with dates varying between states. In South Africa, the new school year usually starts during the second week of January, thus aligning the academic year with the Calendar year. In India, school ends in late April and resumes in early or mid-June. In Cameroon and Nigeria, schools usually finish for summer vacation in mid-July and resume in the later weeks of September or the first week of October.

People generally take advantage of the high temperatures by spending more time outdoors during summer. Activities such as travelling to the beach and picnics occur during the summer months. Sports including cricket, association football (soccer), horse racing, basketball, American football, volleyball, skateboarding, baseball, softball, tennis and golf are played.

Water sports also occur. These include water skiing, wakeboarding, swimming, surfing, tubing and water polo. The modern Olympics have been held during the summer months every four years since 1896. The 2000 Summer Olympics, in Sydney, were held in spring and the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, were held in winter.

Conversely, the music and film industries generally experience higher returns during the summer than other times of the year and market their summer hits accordingly. Summer is popular for animated movies to be released theatrically in movie theaters.[citation needed]

With many schools closed, especially in Western countries, travel and vacationing tend to peak during the summer. Teenagers and university students often take summer jobs, and business activity for the recreation, tourism, restaurant, and retail industries reach their peak.

Happy summer! This year, the June solstice occurs on Wednesday, June 21, marking the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The solstice is celebrated by many cultures around the world. Learn solstice facts, fun, and folklore!

In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice (aka summer solstice) occurs when the Sun reaches its highest and northernmost points in the sky. It marks the start of summer in the northern half of the globe. (In contrast, the June solstice in the Southern Hemisphere is when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky, marking the start of winter.)

The Summer Solstice is the day with the longest period of sunlight. Notice how the Sun appears highest in the sky at the solstice; its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer.

There is also a common debate regarding how the exact timing of the solstice affects the first day of the season. For example, if the solstice occurs at 11:30 P.M. on a Saturday, should we consider that Saturday to be the first day of summer, or should we instead consider the following day (Sunday) to be the first day? it tends to differ by whichever source you follow.

On the solstice, the Sun is at its highest point in the sky and it takes longer for it to rise and to set. (Note: When the Sun appears highest in the sky near the summer solstice, the full Moon opposite the Sun generally appears lowest in the sky!)

Although the day of the solstice has the most daylight hours of the year, the earliest sunrises of the year occur before the summer solstice. The exact timing will depend in part on your latitude: In the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, it occurs about a week earlier than the June solstice.

But that isn't correct for everyone in the northern hemisphere. If you live between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer, your shadow will be longer on June 21st than it will be as the apparent sun position moves back south as the summer progresses. In fact, anywhere between in the Tropic zones, there will be two days that the sun is directly overhead for you, and it's not when the sun is at its highest declination. The only places in the Tropics that will occur on the longest day (June in the north, Tropic of Cancer; or December in the south, Tropic of Capricorn) is if you are standing right on the Tropic line; moving toward the equator will result in your shadow being LONGER on the summer solstice than it will be during two other days in the year as the sun is directly overhead.

In ancient times each solstice marked the MIDDLE OF each season- as in the summer solstice the sun slows its turning to a near stop and then begin to turn in the opposite direction at the solstice - it then begins to WANE - to prepare for Winter. So clearly from an astronomical Perspective the ancients had it RIGHT - each Solstice is the MIDDLE Of that season and NOT the beginning- how can it be - truly absurd to see alleged "experts" call it the beginning of summer when clearly it is NOT. 041b061a72