When you examine average daily high and low temperatures through the year, you'll quickly notice a pattern.

The coldest three months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere are usually from the beginning of December through the end of February, while the warmest three months are typically from the beginning of June through the end of August.

These nice, clean, three-month buckets are known as meteorological winter and summer, respectively. Meteorological spring and fall land between the winter and summer buckets.

An advantage to meteorological seasons is the ease of calculating seasonal statistics, since every meteorological season starts on the first of the month.

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Today, December 1st, is also the day that the first of my potted Amaryllises has started to bloom. This seems early in the holiday season to me. Although I didn't plant them early, others are also putting out flower stalks. I doubt they will make it to Christmas. However, Amaryllis are pretty long lasting; so, who knows? I've never had one bloom this early in December before.

However, 2023 has been a rather odd year for plants. I had "Christmas" Amaryllises blooming in late July, 2023: https://pbase.com/britestar/image/173896519 & https://pbase.com/britestar/image/173865590