SAN ANTONIO — Now that we're in the month of March, we are not only beginning a new month, but also a new season, so to speak.
What is the difference between meteorological and astronomical seasons? Let's start in outer space, by talking about astronomical winter. This is the one you're probably more familiar with and learned about in school. We know the astronomical winter begins on the winter solstice, but we also know that the dates can vary.
The winter solstice begins with the shortest amount of daylight, typically around Dec. 21, but not always falling on that day. So, what else makes up the astronomical seasons?
They all start and end with the two solstices and the two equinoxes. They are never exactly three-month periods; there's a variation in dates from year-to-year.
On the other hand, we have meteorological seasons, which meteorologists prefer to use. That's because the seasons always start on the first of the month and end on the last day of the month. They're much easier to account for because there's no variation in dates; they are always exact three-month periods.
So you can compare seasons, apples to apples. In summary, meteorologists prefer meteorological seasons because they are cleaner, and they never change from year to year.