MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Most of us look at the seasons one way, and that’s the calendar definition.

But what if you were told those seasons don’t always line up with the weather? For that, we have the meteorological seasons.

Have you ever experienced a warm March day and thought to yourself, “How is it technically still winter?”

That’s because the astronomical definition of the seasons is based on the tilt of the Earth and not the annual temperature cycle.

Meteorologists divide the year into December, January and February as winter; March, April and May as spring; June, July and August as summer and September, October and November as fall. 

That’s a big contrast from the calendar. For example, the first day of spring, according to the calendar, is March 20th. But we’ve already seen periods of spring weather in the Mid-South.

That’s the advantage of the meteorological seasons.

It keeps things simple by starting each season on the first day of a month. And it’s the most accurate way to pair the weather with the date. 

And if you go by them, Saturday is the first day of spring!