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I would say for the Southeast, anywhere where either-or deciduous trees become the predominant trees or there is an average expectation of frost.
Growing up in Florida, we would road trip to Tennessee in the wintertime, and somewhere in south-central Georgia, the landscape indicated we weren't in Florida anymore as most trees were barren, the grass was brown and it just had a different vibe.
I would consider Atlanta and Dallas to be 4 seasons. Tallahassee and Jacksonville, kind of 3 season. Their falls and springs are cool enough but their winters are too mild.
Having a low of 39 or colder in winter is another good indicator.
While I prefer the continental four seasons of Minnesota, with deep winter snow, tons of spring blooms, warm humid summers and crisp autumns full of vibrant foliage, I acknowledge that different places have seasons that can look and feel different. Dallas can have DAYS in the winter that can feel like up north, but for the most part its clearly in the South with its bare brownness in January and its average winter highs in the 50s.
Miami, where I grew up, isn't a four seasons climate. This goes without saying. But... it wouldn't be fairly accurate to say it has NO seasonal changes, just that they're too subtle and short lived and the city is heavily dominated by heat.
Yeah, that's why I think the mid-Atlantic has the best 4-seasons weather with each season being about 3 months long. In New England and the Midwest, from what I hear, Spring and Fall are too short.
People say that because they have cartoonish expectations of what the seasons should be like. I don't feel spring and fall are too short here, but also because I know that spring isn't 3 months of flowers and mild weather and fall isn't 3 months of pumpkins, flannel and leaves lol.
These are the shoulder seasons and are transitional by nature. I don't consider it "winter" jut because there's still snow in March some times. I acknowledge that early spring can still be snowy. Actually, when I picture spring, snow is often part of it. Melting snow is as much a part of spring as blooming tulips are. They just represent different stages of spring. And it depends on the year. Last year's spring took very long to "spring" but it was unusually cold. It can just as easily be unusually warm and spring early.
All seasons extend into each other because there's nothing in nature that would lead to conditions just changing from one status to another on a date marked in a calendar. There's gradual change and the idea that this change is steady and reliable, and allows you to clearly define its stages is rather far-fetched. There's a variety of conditions affecting these changes, such as altitude and proximity to large bodies of water, and things can vary wildly from year to year because specific multi-week weather patterns can lead to perceived 'early springs' 'late winters' etc.
Really, seasons are caused by astronomical realities which affect areas of the globe in different ways with the strongest effect being toward the poles and the smallest toward the equator. But someone might say that the poles have 'no summer' because there's permanent snow cover and it's almost always below freezing and yet they actually have the 'purest' seasons. The only places on earth without summer/winter type seasons are around the equator. A place like Belem, Brazil for instance would be an example. But of course those places tend to have dry/wet season differentiation.
No area inside the U.S. is in that zone though - even South Florida has pretty notable seasonal variation following the classic astronomically-caused winter/summer dichotomy with temperatures peaking in August and bottoming out in January.
I just don't consider the south to have 4 distinct seasons. Where I live on the fall line in GA, we're gonna be near 80 all week. That's not what I consider to be distinctly winter weather. It's basically spring right now in February. Meanwhile it's 3 degrees in Minneapolis right now.
I just don't consider the south to have 4 distinct seasons. Where I live on the fall line in GA, we're gonna be near 80 all week. That's not what I consider to be distinctly winter weather. It's basically spring right now in February. Meanwhile it's 3 degrees in Minneapolis right now.
I would still say GA has 4 seasons but there's something to be said about the fact that the Deep South can reach the 80s in winter but the Upper Midwest won't reach the 20s in summer. We definitely have the seasons more balanced than the South does. Even more than the Northeast for the most part.
"Oh, but it can snow in April!" So? Even Texas has gotten snow in April. April isn't summer.
Agreed. The true 4-seasons climates are in the Northesast (Mid-Atlantic and New England) and Midwest. Gotta have a real fall with red/orange/yellow/brown leaves, winter with snow, spring with bloom, and summer heat.
lol
This thread is so Northern-centric it's ridiculous. Most of this Earth does not experience snowfall, and only 20% of all humans have ever seen snowfall give or take.
I think a good chunk of the Northern US doesn't experience a true summer. Mind telling me how Buffalo which peaks in the 70s on average is a place that gets summer heat? People idolize summers in Chicago, also in the 70s, because it's perfect weather to traverse the city, it's not HOT at 70 degrees.
In Central TX winter is mild and spring/fall can be hot at times, but there are still four distinct seasons.. The only places in the continental US that are borderline about not having four seasons are the west coast right along the Pacific and *maybe* Miami.
North of Atlanta. There’s a noticeable difference in air temperature, wind speeds, humidity and so forth especially once you cross the GA/TN line, partially due to elevation. I wouldn’t consider Atlanta proper to have a “real” winter, but I’d say Nashville would.
This thread is so Northern-centric it's ridiculous. Most of this Earth does not experience snowfall, and only 20% of all humans have ever seen snowfall give or take.
I think a good chunk of the Northern US doesn't experience a true summer. Mind telling me how Buffalo which peaks in the 70s on average is a place that gets summer heat? People idolize summers in Chicago, also in the 70s, because it's perfect weather to traverse the city, it's not HOT at 70 degrees.
70s and above IS summer heat, especially combined with direct sunshine during the longer (and higher sun) summer days. I know that in Buffalo I can actually experience more summertime outdoors than in places where people must "escape" the heat and sun by spending their days in air-conditioned spaces.
And even in Buffalo there are plenty of days in the 80s and above during summers (though I could do without most of them personally).
The Mid-Atlantic and the Lower Midwest have the most distinctive and balanced four seasons.
Well said. Having each season be around 3 months long but yet different in terms of looks and feel is really great.
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