Summer
that season of the year when the sun shines most directly on any region; the warmest season of the year.
N. of the equator it is commonly taken to include the months of June, July, and August; though some substitute May, June, and July. The former view conforms better to fact. July, which by this arrangement is midsummer month, is the hottest in the year, for though the maximum of heat is obtained on June 21, the longest day, the amount received for many subsequent days is greater than that lost by radiation, and the temperature continues to increase. Summer is the appropriate season for the hay harvest and for the ripening of the earlier fruits. Astronomically considered, summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere when the sun enters the sign of Cancer about June 21, and continues till September 23, during which time he passes through Cancer, Leo, and Virgo. In the Southern Hemisphere the opposite is the case, it being winter there when it is summer here, and vice versa. During the astronomical summer of the Southern Hemisphere the sun passes through Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.