Editing Summer (section)

==Timing==
{{further|Meteorological seasons}}

From an astronomical view, the [[equinox]]es and solstices would be the middle of the respective seasons,<ref>{{cite book|last=Ball|first=Sir Robert S|title=Elements of Astronomy|year=1900|publisher=The MacMillan Company|location=London|page=52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNSHRDu98k0C&pg=PA52|isbn=978-1-4400-5323-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Heck|first=Andre|title=Organizations and strategies in Astronomy|volume=7|year=2006|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4020-5300-9|page=14|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YSsaxkeixH0C&pg=PA14}}</ref> but sometimes astronomical summer is defined as starting at the solstice, the time of maximal [[insolation]], often identified with 21 June or 21 December. By solar reckoning, summer instead starts on around 5 May, ends around 7 August and the summer solstice is [[Midsummer]]. A variable [[seasonal lag]] means that the [[meteorology|meteorological]] centre of the season, which is based on average temperature patterns, occurs several weeks after the time of maximal insolation.<ref>{{cite web |author=Cecil Adams |url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/161/is-it-true-summer-in-ireland-starts-may-1 |title=Is it true summer in Ireland starts May 1? |publisher=The Straight Dope |date=1983-03-11 |access-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830161742/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/161/is-it-true-summer-in-ireland-starts-may-1 |archive-date=30 August 2011  }}</ref> 

The meteorological convention defines 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.<ref name="Meteorological Glossary">{{cite book |publisher= HMSO|location= London |isbn= 978-0-11-400363-0|page= 260|title=Meteorological Glossary|year= 1991|url=https://archive.org/details/meteorologicalgl0000grea/page/260/mode/2up?q=260&view=theater }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Schools/School+Members+Area/Ask+the+experts/Meteorological+forecasting.htm |title=Professor Paul Hardaker answers questions on meteorological forecasting |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202023116/http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Schools/School+Members+Area/Ask+the+experts/Meteorological+forecasting.htm |archive-date=2 February 2017 |url-status=dead |website=[[Royal Geographical Society]]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Meteorological Glossary"/> 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 [[Republic of Ireland|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]]).{{cn |date=August 2023}}

[[File:Inari, Finland - panoramio (5).jpg|thumb|During summer in the [[polar regions of Earth|polar regions]], the sun can appear even at midnight. Photo of [[midnight sun]] in [[Inari, Finland|Inari]], [[Finland]].]]
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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Driscol|first1=D. M.|last2=Rice|first2=P. B.|last3=Fong|first3=J. M. Y. | doi = 10.1002/joc.3370140905|title=Spatial variation of climatic aspects of temperature: Interdiurnal variability and lag|journal=International Journal of Climatology|volume=14|issue=9|pages=1001|year=1994|bibcode=1994IJCli..14.1001D|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1229243}}</ref> 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 (Northern Hemisphere)|autumn equinox]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/48297387.html|title=First day of summer worth celebrating|publisher=JSOnline|access-date=2011-09-27|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713123543/http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/48297387.html|archive-date=13 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/weather/gdw_wluk_green_bay_fathers_day_first_day_summer_200906190659_rev1|title=Father's Day is first day of summer|website=Fox11online.com|date=2009-06-19|access-date=2011-09-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917013640/http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/weather/gdw_wluk_green_bay_fathers_day_first_day_summer_200906190659_rev1|archive-date=17 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/SummerSolstice.html|title=Summer Solstice |work= Eric Weisstein's World of Astronomy |publisher=Scienceworld.wolfram.com|access-date=2011-09-27}}</ref>

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 [[Canada|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#Canada|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 [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]], summer begins on 1 December and ends on 28 February (29 February in leap years).

In [[Chinese astronomy]], summer starts on or around 5 May, with the ''[[Jieqi|jiéqì]]'' ([[solar term]]) known as ''[[lixia|lìxià]]'' (立夏), i.e. "establishment of summer".<ref name="Stepanchuk Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts">{{cite book |last1=Stepanchuk |first1=Carol |title=Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts: Festivals of China |date=1991 |publisher=China Books & Periodicals |location=San Francisco |isbn=0-8351-2481-9}}</ref><ref name="菇溪風情 立夏">{{cite book |title=菇溪風情 |date=1 January 2019 |publisher=寧波出版社 |isbn=978-7-5526-3347-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwhXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |access-date=31 March 2023 |language=zh |pages=9, 21 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405145403/https://books.google.com/books?id=SwhXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |url-status=live }}</ref> Summer ends around 7 August, with the solar term of ''[[liqiu|lìqiū]]'' (立秋, "establishment of autumn").

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 [[rain]]s.{{citation needed|date=May 2008}}

Because the temperature lag is shorter in the oceanic temperate southern hemisphere,<ref>{{cite book|title=Physical Geography|first1=Robert E.|last1=Gabler|first2=James F.|last2=Petersen|first3=L. Michael|last3=Trapasso|first4=Dorothy|last4=Sack |location=Belmont, California|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2008|page=107|isbn=0495555061 <!-- |ISBN=9780495555063 -->}}</ref> most countries in this region use the meteorological definition with summer starting on 1 December and ending on the last day of February.<ref>{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Jack|url=https://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2003-12-21-answers-seasons_x.htm|title=Answers: When do the seasons begin|publisher=Usatoday.Com|date=2005-02-22|access-date=2011-09-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127202256/http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2003-12-21-answers-seasons_x.htm|archive-date=27 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bom.gov.au/|title=Bureau of Meteorology |publisher=Bom.gov.au|date=2011-03-11|access-date=2011-09-27|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912140134/http://www.bom.gov.au/|archive-date=12 September 2017}}</ref>