For the phenologist, winter doesn't arrive on a specific date; it arrives when the environment says it has.
It is a question that sparks debate at coffee shops, in group chats, and around the dinner table every year. The calendar on the wall claims it is still autumn, yet the thermometer reads 28°F, the trees are bare, and there is frost on the windshield.
Is It Fall or Winter? How to Tell Which Season You’re Actually In
Are we enjoying a late slice of autumn, or have we been thrust into the grip of winter? The answer, it turns out, depends entirely on how you measure the seasons. To settle the dispute, we have to look at the three distinct ways we define the passing of time: Meteorological, Astronomical, and Phenological.
The seasons are not just dates on a wall; they are a state of mind.
