Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, falling between spring and autumn.

At the
summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the
season progresses after the solstice. The date of the beginning of summer varies according
to climate, tradition and culture, but when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere it iswinter in
the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.
Contents
[hide]
1 Timing
2 Weather
3 Holidays
o 3.1 School breaks
o 3.2 Public holidays
4 Activities
5 See also
6 References
Timing[edit]
Part of the nature series
Weather
Calendar seasons
Winter
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Tropical seasons
Dry season
Wet season
Storms
Thunderstorm (Thundersnow)
Supercell
Downburst
Lightning
Tornado
Waterspout
Tropical cyclone (Hurricane)
Extratropical cyclone
Winter storm
Blizzard
Ice storm
Dust storm
Firestorm
Cloud
Precipitation
Drizzle (Freezing drizzle)
Rain (Freezing rain)
Snow
Rain and snow mixed
Snow grains
Snow roller
Graupel
Ice pellets
Hail
Topics
Meteorology
Climate
Cloud
Weather forecasting
Heat wave
Air pollution
Cold wave
Weather portal
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From an astronomical view, the equinoxes and solstices would be the middle of the respective
seasons,
[1][2]
but a variable seasonal lag means that the meteorological start of the season, which is
based on average temperature patterns, occurs several weeks later than the start of the
astronomical season.
[3]
According to meteorologists,
[4][5]
summer extends for the whole months of
June, July, and August in the northern hemisphere and the whole months of December, January,
and February in the southern hemisphere. 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 Austria,Denmark and the former Soviet Union. It is
also used by many in the United Kingdom. In Ireland, the summer months according to the national
meteorological service, Met ireann, are June, July and August. However, according to theIrish
Calendar summer begins on 1 May and ends on 1 August. School textbooks in Ireland follow the
cultural norm of summer commencing on 1 May rather than the meteorological definition of 1 June.
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 temperature lag of up to half a season is common, reckoning based on astronomical
markers is shifted half a season.
[6]
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.
[7][8][9][10]

Reckoning by cultural festivals, the summer season in the United States is commonly regarded as
beginning onMemorial Day weekend (the last weekend in May) and ending on Labor Day weekend
(the first weekend 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 Labor Day.
In Chinese astronomy, summer starts on or around 5 May, with the jiq (solar term) known
as lxi (), i.e. "establishment of summer", and it ends on or around 6 August.
In southern and southeast Asia, where the monsoon occurs, summer is more generally defined as
lasting from March to May/early 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]

Weather[edit]


Wet season thunderstorm at night in Darwin, Australia.
See also: Hail, Tropical cyclone and Wet season
Summer is traditionally associated with hot weather. In the Mediterranean regions, it is also
associated with dry weather, while in other places (particularly in Eastern Asia because of the
Monsoon) it is associated with rainy weather. The wet season is the main period of vegetation
growth within the savanna climate regime.
[14]
Where the wet season is associated with a seasonal
shift in the prevailing winds, it is known as a monsoon.
[15]



Image of Hurricane Lester from late August 1992.
In the northern Atlantic Ocean, a distinct tropical cyclone season occurs from 1 June to 30
November.
[16]
The statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is 10 September. The Northeast
Pacific Ocean has a broader period of activity, but in a similar time frame to the Atlantic.
[17]
The
Northwest Pacific sees tropical cyclones year-round, with a minimum in February and March and a
peak in early September. In the North Indian basin, storms are most common from April to
December, with peaks in May and November.
[16]
In the Southern Hemisphere, the tropical cyclone
season runs from 1 November until the end of April with peaks in mid-February to early March.
[16][18]

Thunderstorm season in the USA and Canada runs in the spring through summer. These storms can
produce hail, strong winds and tornadoes, usually during the afternoon and evening.
In Australia and New Zealand, Summer officially begins on 1 December and ends on 28 and 29
February.
Holidays[edit]
School breaks[edit]
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. In the United States, public schools usually end in early
June while colleges get out in early May. In India, school ends in April and resumes in early June.
InEngland 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.
In Pakistan school usually ends in early June and resumes in mid September. In the Philippines the
months of April and May make up the summer break
[19]
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 mid-December and end in late January, with the
dates varying between states. In Cameroon and Nigeria, Schools usually go for Summer vacation in
mid-July and resume back in the later weeks of September or first week of October.
Public holidays[edit]
A wide range of public holidays fall during summer, including:
Bank holidays in the United Kingdom and Ireland;
lavska, national holiday in the Faroe Islands on 29 July;
Activities[edit]
People take advantage of the warmer temperatures by spending more time outdoors during the
summer. Activities such as traveling to the beach and picnics occur during summer months. Sports
such as basketball, American football, volleyball, skateboarding, baseball, softball, cricket, tennis,
and water polo are played. Water sports also occur. These include water skiing, wake
boarding, swimming, surfing, and tubing. The modern Olympics have been held during the summer
months every four years since 1896. The 2000 Summer Olympics, in Sydney, however, were held
during the Australian spring.
Summer is usually a low point in television viewing, and television schedules generally reflect this by
not scheduling new episodes of their most popular shows between the end of May sweeps and the
beginning of the television season in September, instead scheduling low-cost reality
television shows and burning offcommitments to already-canceled series. 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. The summer season is also most popular for animated
movies to be released theatrically in movie theaters.
[citation needed]

With most school-age children and college students (except those attending summer school) on
summer vacation during the summer months, especially in the United States, travel and vacationing
traditionally peaks during the summer, with the volume of travel in a typical summer weekend rivaled
only by Thanksgiving. Teenagers and college students often take summer jobs in industries that
cater to recreation.