"Peter McCloskey" wrote in message
...
I think it is meaningless to refer to winter as anything other than the
period 22 December - 21 March, i.e. the astronomical winter period from
the
winter solstice to the spring equinox. We all know April can be colder
than
January, but to talk of December as a winter month is largely meaningless,
as 68% of it is in the autumn.

If we stuck to the astroinomical seasons, there would be far less sloppy
talk about May being a summer month for example.

True enough. Certainly December here is rarely that cold, I wouldn't expect
to see snow before Christmas whatever.

Jim Webster