Category:Summer

Seasons of the year can be defined in two ways: astronomical and meteorological. The former can be fluid regarding its start and end dates, and the latter is firmly fixed. All images in this category have been taken within meteorological summer.

The earth rotates on an axis of 23.5° in an orbit around the sun. This tilt causes the seasons we experience each year. With this in mind, when the earth's axis point is pointing towards the sun, that particular hemisphere is experiencing the warmer, summer months. When the earth's axis point is pointing away from the sun, that hemisphere is experiencing the colder, winter months. Astronomical seasons of the year can differ in length, which is why the start date of these seasons can fall on different days each year.

Astronomical seasons are transitional stages, experienced by the solstices and equinoxes. The dates of these can also be fluid due to the elliptical orbit of the earth around the sun. Each year there are two equinoxes (spring and autumn) and two solstices (summer and winter).

In 2024, the astronomical summer starts on 20 June, and ends on 22 September.^[1]

The seasons based on the meteorological system differ as they use the Gregorian calendar and the annual temperature cycle, which provides a static date every year for each season. Each of these seasons are split into four distinct periods of three months each. This system makes observation and forecasting easier when comparing statistics both seasonal and monthly.

Meteorological summer will always start on 1 June, and end on 31 August.^[1]

By this system, meteorological seasons are defined as:

• Spring – March, April, May
• Summer – June, July, August
• Autumn – September, October, November
• Winter – December, January, February