Tuesday, June 30, 2026

The Heat is On: The Texas Seasons

Often you will hear travelers to The Great State mention how they couldn’t live here because they’d miss having the “seasons.”  They wax poetic about seeing the leaves change on trees and remember fondly building snowmen. 
 
Although they could do that here in Texas, the number of days a person could experience those memories is pretty short. Pining for the four seasons up North seems odd to us, because here in Texas, we have eight seasons.

According to your calendar, Summer has just begun.  In Texas, summer is a factor in just about all the seasons.  Ergo, we have many more seasons then the rest of the country.
Here are the seasons in Texas:
  • Summer
  • Real Summer
  • Summer Post Facto
  • Fading Summer
  • Faux Fall
  • Waning Winter
  • Spring-ish
  • Pre-summer
Now, with climate change the actual dates will fluctuate, but here’s a rough guide to when the seasons occur:


Summer---------------June 22-July 3

Real Summer---------July 4-September 1

Summer Post Facto---September 2-October 5

Fading Summer-------October 6-November 25

Faux Fall--------------November 26-December 23, 26-30

Waning Winter----December 24, 25, 31-January 10

Spring-ish-------------January 11-February 28

Presummer------------March 1-June 21
Most Texans are used to these seasons, and shudder when the temperature drops below 70°.  When that rare occasion happens (usually in Waning Winter), they grab their parkas, huddle in their houses and wonder if it’s the end of the world.
Yes, summer has begun according to your calendar, but here in Texas we all know that it is just a number on a piece of paper—and that piece of paper will probably catch fire when Real Summer gets here.   

So grab yourself a glass of sweetened ice tea, your little floaty device, a good straw cowboy hat and head to the nearest body of water because you’re going to want to keep cool for the next 11 or so months.


It's travel season now and we at The Thurber Brigade wanted to enlighten visitors to Texas about the weather, and so hope you won't mind this little rerun from 2018 (we didn't have time to explain how in Waning Winter temps may be 100 one day and 32 the next).  We're furiously working on another blog that's sure to anger someone as we discuss aspects of the ongoing War Between Men and Women (um, relationships).  Keep cool until then. 
 
 

2 comments:

  1. My favorite meme on this topic is the one that says to stay out of the sun from 10 am until November.

    I think of our seasons as spring, first summer, hellfires, second summer, and fall (which may or may not contain a freeze or snowfall or two). I don't have dates locked down in my head except that hellfires always lasts through August and second summer always lasts until Halloween. And spring is when the bluebonnets bloom, followed almost immediately by all the weeds with burrs.

    I love how when the place snows or ices over, you don't have to go to work in most industries!

    We have way better spring and summer wildflowers than most places, though I admit our fall colors are subtle (mostly brownish red, brownish yellow, and brownish orange).

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    1. Hi Debbie, thanks for reading and commenting. I like your name "hellfires" seems very appropriate. You are right about winter. I lived in Kansas as a kid and it could snow four feet and we still had to go to school. Moved to El Paso and the whole city shut down with 1/4 inch snow, plus there were around 900 traffic accidents. It was a rather shock to the system.

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