Today is the first day of meteorological spring.  The forecast high temperature at my house in New Orleans is 75 degrees, and the forecast low temperature is 55 degrees.  It is 56 degrees as I write this in the morning.

If you live somewhere where the forecast low temperature is typically much lower than 55 degrees at this time of year, you might want to check with your tax professional to see whether a business trip to New Orleans to meet with patent attorneys (from a patent law firm with an objectively measured high rate of getting patents for their clients – see GSN#1)  may be tax deductible. We would be happy to meet with you and handle your patent work.

I grew up with astronomical seasons, where seasons changed on the 21st of a month.  

The first day of astronomical spring is the vernal equinox (when we have equal amounts of day and night in the northern hemisphere) on 21 March, 

The first day of astronomical summer is the summer solstice (when we have the longest day of sunlight in the northern hemisphere) on 21 June, 

The first day of astronomical autumn is the autumnal equinox (when we have equal amounts of day and night in the northern hemisphere) on 21 September, 

The first day of astronomical winter is the winter solstice (when we have the shortest day of sunlight in the northern hemisphere) on 21 December,

The astronomical seasons did not make sense to me when I thought about them.  It is already warming up by the first day of astronomical spring, and it seems that spring is already upon us before the 21st of March.  21 June does not make sense as the first day of summer, as it is usually pretty hot in  New Orleans before that.

Some years ago I learned about meteorological seasons.  These seasons are based on temperatures, not positions of the earth in relation to the sun, or the number of hours of daylight we have.  The three hottest months in the northern hemisphere are June, July, and August, so meteorological summer runs from 1 June through 31 August.  The three coldest months in the northern hemisphere are December, January, and February, so meteorological winter runs from 1 December through the end of February.  Meteorological spring is between meteorological winter and meteorological summer (so 1 March through 31 May.  Meteorological fall (autumn) is between meteorological summer and meteorological winter (so 1 September through 30 November). 

To help illustrate why meteorological seasons make more sense, I asked Microsoft Copilot to create the following table.

Average Monthly Temperatures in New Orleans

The color coding emphasizes that the three hottest months are June, July, and August, the three coldest months are December, January, and February, and the more moderate temperatures occur in the months in between these.

I hope that wherever you are, you are enjoying the first day of meteorological spring.

Seth M. Nehrbass, Patent Attorney,

Garvey, Smith & Nehrbass, Patent Attorneys, L.L.C.