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Harold Brooks · June 19th 06, 05:03 PM posted to uk.sci.weather

In article .com,
says...

Graham Jones wrote:
What does midsummer actually mean?

Surely it can't mean the middle of summer as my calendar says the 21st
is the official start of summer. So where has this come from?

This is the perennial question. There is no straight answer. In terms
of the calendar I suppose June 21st is midsummer. Most British people
take summer to be the months of June, July and August, symmetrically
bracketing the statistically warmest part of the year. The Americans
consider June 21st to be the start of summer, and as they would say -
your mileage may vary.

I think most Americans think of summer as being between Memorial Day
weekend (last Monday of May) and Labor Day weekend (first Monday of
September). For instance, that's the time period that the public
swimming pool around here is open, even though public schools are back
in session for a couple of weeks before Labor Day.

The 21 June date is based off a slavish adherence to astronomical
criteria.

Harold
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Harold Brooks
hebrooks87 hotmail.com