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Spring - Beginning of March to beginning of June - It's still cool and showery except that there are things in bloom now. Temps range from about 60F for highs to 35F for lows.
I don't doubt that you have "things in bloom" in March, even with temps in the low-teens C. (low-mid 50's F)
Around Toronto, generally nothing grows when highs are below 13 C (56 F) and not much happens without highs of 16+ C (60+ F). Pretty spring scenes that are what most people imagine as "Spring" require us to have already had 3-5 days at 60+ F. Usually this doesn't happen until late-April, sometimes mid-May.
Maybe the difference is our ground is much colder in Spring?
We have a 3-foot "frost line." (ground can freeze to that depth)
Tough to nail down as each year is so different....but based on my ideas of what each season is here is my take on it up in my area (northeast ND-northwest MN)
Winter --Nov 15-Apr 15
based on consistent below freezing and when snowcover typically begins to when it typically is almost gone and ground un-freezes. Our true winter (below 0F very common) usually runs Dec 15-Feb 15
Spring -- Apr 15-June 15
snow melt ending in mid April...ground getting warmer and grass starts getting green and tree buds out late April to early May. Full grown leaves usually by Memorial Day...typically you can start planting flowers after June 1 without a huge risk of a killing frost.
Summer -- June 15-Sept 15
long days with 16-17 hours of daylight in June to mid July. Little chance of frost and highs in the 70s and 80s very common...sometimes 90s
Fall -- Sept 15-Nov 15
losing daylight quickly now and nights are cooler with frosts common by Oct 1 and freezes by Oct 15th. First snow in October in most months but usually melts in a few days.
So, as you can see spring and fall are generally the longest seasons here with short summers and winters.
Vancouver has the reverse of Toronto.
In a year with normal-length winters and summers,
winter and summer are the longest seasons of the year,
with winter being the longest season.
FALL - late September to late November. Characterized by relatively warm or pleasant days and cool/cold nights. October is relatively dry and sunny but November is fairly wet but overall weather can be very changeable. Fall foliage, first frosts are observed.
WINTER - December to early March. Mostly cold days and usually subfreezing nights necessitating warm winter clothes for most of the period. Wintry precipitation is common. Skies have greatest chance of being overcast. Warm days are rare but possible.
SPRING - second half of March to early May. Very changeable weather with only general warming trend. Cold strong sea breezes create raw and unpleasant conditions. Trees become green roughly in second half of April.
SUMMER - late mid May to mid September. Days are warm to hot, with high humidity; nights are also humid and usually warm. Precipitation is usually in the form of thunderstorms. Skies have greatest chance of being sunny.
In England: Winter from 1st September - 31st May. Autumn from 1st June - 31st August. There are no other seasons.
Ditto for Melbourne.
Sydney, Perth and Adelaide are livign it up....average highs/lows in Sydney are 21C/29C, Average lows/highs in Perf and Adelaide are 19/34C and 18/31C respectively. Melbourne....15C to 26C. Gay. Even freaking Canbraaa are outstripping us at 16/32C [mod cut]
I don't doubt that you have "things in bloom" in March, even with temps in the low-teens C. (low-mid 50's F)
Around Toronto, generally nothing grows when highs are below 13 C (56 F) and not much happens without highs of 16+ C (60+ F). Pretty spring scenes that are what most people imagine as "Spring" require us to have already had 3-5 days at 60+ F. Usually this doesn't happen until late-April, sometimes mid-May.
Maybe the difference is our ground is much colder in Spring?
We have a 3-foot "frost line." (ground can freeze to that depth)
Yes, I think the main reason why we have blooms at much lower temperatures and earlier than you do definitely has to do with the "frost line". Here in the winter we don't have much of a frost line and when we do have one, it's not very deep (typically less than 30cm) and it doesn't last the whole winter (more like 2-3 weeks at most at a time). As a result, the soil is generally warmer and more or less not frozen come February or March which facilitates plant growth. Another consequence of this lack of frozen ground means that construction happens all year here.
In fact this year, a few flowers have started now sprouting already due to the very mild winter we've been having. We haven't had a frost since before Xmas.
I'll start with my worst season down here in south Texas.
Summer- about May-October (last cold fronts blow in in May and start around mid-September, but they are very weak, they really just lower the humidity if anything)
Fall- probably just November. We don't get color changes or anything down here, but you may finally bring out a sweater or jacket out this month.
Winter- December-February. Although it's not a constant cold, these months will bring in the arctic fronts and some of the coldest weather of the season. So for that alone, it's considered winter. No snow and frozen precip maybe once a year.
Spring- March, April. Cold fronts are far and in between at this point and it starts to feel hotter and humid. Nothing really needs to grow back as most of the plants never died to begin with, but the longer daylight hours are felt.
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