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Subject: Seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

In Australia, are the winter months the same as the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere? In other words, up here we say "I'll be glad when summer gets here and the weather warms up." Do they, on the other hand say "I'll be glad when winter is here and the weather warms up." Do they call our winter, winter? Or do they call it summer?

    Actually, the names for the hot season (summer) and cold season (winter) apply the same way in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. What is different is when those seasons occur on the Jovian Calendar. Our northern winter is in Dec, Jan and Feb, whereas the southern winter is in June, July, and August. Each of our summers is 6 months away from our winters in our respective hemispheres. In cold places in either hemisphere (which thankfully doesn't include Hawaii) people might say: "I'll be glad when summer gets here and the weather warms up". The difference is that in the North people might say "I am dreading a cold January" whereas in the South you might say "I am looking forward to a warm January".

Ken Rubin, Assistant Professor
Department of Geology and Geophysics
University of Hawaii, Honolulu HI 96822


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