When does winter start?

[cheeky_monkey]

I know most people nowadays don't class Nov as winter, I do and always will do.

nowadays???....nobody has ever classed november as a winter month???...to me november is the clasic autumn month...bonfire night..cooling days, shortening days and trees losing their leaves etc...weather can be warm cold wet dry etc etc..snow is rarer in november and generally warmer than march.

[andy_leics22]

nowadays???....nobody has ever classed november as a winter month???...to me november is the clasic autumn month...bonfire night..cooling days, shortening days and trees losing their leaves etc...weather can be warm cold wet dry etc etc..snow is rarer in november and generally warmer than march.

Well some people think of November as the start of Winter. Bonfire night is usually notorious for being a cold and possibly frosty night. I usually think of leaves coming off trees in late September and October, I guess it is down to personal preference though. Some people would say Winter is January and February and some would say it starts in November.

I could walk around in just a T-shirt until the start of October and then defanitly need a coat by November so for me Winter starts when you start needing to wear a hat, scarf, gloves or a coat because of the cold.

Edited November 27, 2008 by andy_leics22

[cheeky_monkey]

Well some people think of November as the start of Winter. Bonfire night is usually notorious for being a cold and possibly frosty night. I usually think of leaves coming off trees in late September and October, I guess it is down to personal preference though. Some people would say Winter is January and February and some would say it starts in November.

I could walk around in just a T-shirt until the start of October and then defanitly need a coat by November so for me Winter starts when you start needing to wear a hat, scarf, gloves or a coat because of the cold.

what people think novemnber is a winter month???...i have never come across anybody ever who thinks tht....if u base winter being a time when u mite need a coat and scarf..then why not class april as a winter month..honestly especially the last few years there have only been a few occasions where have i had to wear a hat, coats scarf and gloves in dec, jan feb..let alone nov!!..in fact dont ever remember wearing a hat or scarf ever.

[Kentish Man]

I suspect most are happy to accept the Met Offices definition of winter ie Dec - Feb and summer Jun - Aug etc

Arguably there is a slight time lag ie the first week or so of Sep is warmer than the first week of June and the possibility of severe cold from the east lingers into early March but the feel of late season heat or cold is different due to the angle of sun/length of days etc. So Dec 1st it is.

[reef]

Using the astrononical definition for the seasons with regards to meterological data recording would be an absolute nightmare. Not least, because the equinox/solstice dates wander from year to year.

At the end of the day, you have to remember that winter-like weather isnt just confined to winter, just as heat isnt confined just to summer.

This is also the same for Ireland. Calling 1st August Autumn when mean temperatures are at their peak is ridiculous.

The Irish MetOffice Winter summary (For Dec, Jan and Feb):

http://www.met.ie/climate/monthly_summarys/winter08.pdf

[Weather-history]

This is a real old chestnut, I've seen this being argued over in articles 100 years ago.

Those who believe that winter starts and ends at the solstice and equinox respectively should note that the dates of these events are not the same every year.

They change.

For stats reasons, it is a lot easier with the December, January, February approach.

[ribster]

I wonder if that's really true, Rikki. If you want to talk about natural phenomena and ancient attitudes rather than the climatic experience, I think you can argue that the winter solstice was considered the middle of winter, not the beginning. Our pagan ancestors always made a big thing of it - and Christmas was moved to be close to it - presumably to celebrate the beginning of the end of the darkness, something that was probably at least as frightening to them as cold. And looking at it weather-wise, the Dec-Jan-Feb definition has been around a long time.

For myself, I find it hard to see any logic - natural or man-made, ancient or modern - to considering the 21st Dec as only the start. Still, I have to admit that some old folklore sayings suggest that Candlemas Day, the 2nd February, was sometimes reckoned to be the middle of winter - and that would imply the season (if 3 months long) running from mid-Dec to mid-March, which is not far off.

Maybe we should adopt the meteorologist H.H.Lamb's suggestion of having five seasons, not four, with 'Early winter' running from Nov 20th to Jan 19th, and 'Late winter' from Jan 20th to March 29th.

Ossie

Ah, you've beaten me to it - unless your'e into pagan nonsense then it's 1st Dec.

what people think novemnber is a winter month???...i have never come across anybody ever who thinks tht....if u base winter being a time when u mite need a coat and scarf..then why not class april as a winter month..honestly especially the last few years there have only been a few occasions where have i had to wear a hat, coats scarf and gloves in dec, jan feb..let alone nov!!..in fact dont ever remember wearing a hat or scarf ever.

I must admit, as a child I did used to perceive November as a winter month!

[LadyPakal]

Here you go - everyone is right! :lol:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season#Reckoning

[andy_leics22]

what people think novemnber is a winter month???...i have never come across anybody ever who thinks tht....if u base winter being a time when u mite need a coat and scarf..then why not class april as a winter month..honestly especially the last few years there have only been a few occasions where have i had to wear a hat, coats scarf and gloves in dec, jan feb..let alone nov!!..in fact dont ever remember wearing a hat or scarf ever.

Well that is fair enough :lol: It is all down to personal views though really. Technically winter is Dec, Jan and Feb. I think when you associate between the seasons though you could call November the start of Winter. Some parts of the UK see their first snow of the Winter in November, in fact over the past few years there have been decent cold snaps at the middle to the end of November.

I remember as a kid at school there used to be a calender on the wall with pictures of each month... I remember September and October had leaves on the ground and the November one had a snowy scene on it :lol: Nowadays it hardly snows in November, especially in the south although it isn't rare.

[Bottesford]

I think November feels notably more winter like to many people since the clocks move just before it starts - darkness is suddenly pre 5pm (working time still for many). Also 'warm' November spells are never truly warm feeling unlike an October warm spell could be so I think your average person in the street often calls November winter - most people at work think that way certainly. Most leaves are gone from trees and it's almost at its darkest by the end of the month so I don't blame the earlier poster for thinking Nov could be a winter month.

Personally I find November a particularly grim month so I often find myself lumping it with Dec & Jan as it feels distinctly similar.

It's still not officially winter though...

[ChartViewer]

I think November feels notably more winter like to many people since the clocks move just before it starts - darkness is suddenly pre 5pm (working time still for many). Also 'warm' November spells are never truly warm feeling unlike an October warm spell could be so I think your average person in the street often calls November winter - most people at work think that way certainly. Most leaves are gone from trees and it's almost at its darkest by the end of the month so I don't blame the earlier poster for thinking Nov could be a winter month.

Personally I find November a particularly grim month so I often find myself lumping it with Dec & Jan as it feels distinctly similar.

It's still not officially winter though...

Not sure I can agree there Bottesford...I work for a London Borough and we are still clearing leaves and have been all November........and will be for 2 weeks yet.......Suspect it depends on where you are in terms of Winter weather...........London has not seen it that cold this Autumn so far

[andy_leics22]

Not sure I can agree there Bottesford...I work for a London Borough and we are still clearing leaves and have been all November........and will be for 2 weeks yet.......Suspect it depends on where you are in terms of Winter weather...........London has not seen it that cold this Autumn so far

There is tons of leaves around here at the moment, they all started to build up around 2 weeks ago when we had some pretty windy weather, I think this year has been a bit different to previous years as October wasn't as wet and windy as it usually can be. So this time the leaves are coming off in November and not October.

[Nick H]

I usually think of leaves coming off trees in late September

I'd be surprised if even in Leicestershire leaves start falling in late September.

This year, London's trees didn't start shedding until the second half of October.

In recent years autumn seems to have started later and later and finished earlier and earlier. In my experience anyway.