When is "Fall" start?

[Brad]

When is the first day of "Fall"? I am used to September 22nd being it. But, I recall a post here that said there is a different start date for weather people. Did I misread?

[Knapper]

The astronomical first day of fall is indeed Sept 22 but the meteorological first day of fall is Sept 1. The met seasons lag about three weeks behind astro seasons. Fall in most of the meteorological field is defined as Sept, Oct, and Nov. Winter is Dec through Feb., spring march through May, and summer June through August. And as a side note, the summit "winter" in most research projects is Oct through May as these coorespond to first and last dates of sustained snow.

[Bill O]

I agree with Ryan. From a weather standpoint sep 1 is really the start of fall. With variation, obviously. By the end of august it's easy to tell things are different.

[Brad]

That is what I was looking for - thanks.

[mtruman]

This sure makes a lot of sense. The met seasons sure seem a lot more reasonable than the "real" ones - at least here. Thanks everyone for the clarification. And since Fall is my favorite season I'm glad to know that I'm already enjoying it

[Bill O]

If somebody says "fall is in the air" on September 5th...you can say "duh, that's like saying rain is in the air when its raining.