We often hear ‘summer season’ and not summer weather. We also hear ‘the weather today is rather cold’ and not ‘the season today is rather cold’. Why is that so?
Even though the terms season and weather are used to describe the level of humidity, heat or temperature experienced by the region, they still cannot be used in place of the other. So, it is important to be able to differentiate them.
Key Takeaways
- Seasons are divisions of the year based on recurring climate patterns, influenced by Earth’s tilt and orbit around the sun, resulting in four primary seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
- Weather refers to the short-term atmospheric conditions in a specific area, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, and visibility.
- The main difference between season and weather is the time scale: seasons describe long-term, predictable climate patterns, while weather describes short-term, variable atmospheric conditions.
Season vs Weather
The four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter are determined by the tilt of the Earth’s axis and occur at different times depending on the hemisphere. Weather is the day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere, which can vary widely depending on location, time of year, and other factors.
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The season is the division of weathers over different regions as large as a country or a continent. This depends on the common weather patterns observed or the geographic location of the place.
For example, the countries near the equator usually have longer or harsher summers than the ones near the poles of the Earth.
Weather is the daily or the current atmospheric conditions faced by a smaller area such as a city or village. Sometimes it does not even cover an entire city.
The weather is influenced by the atmospheric conditions, pressure, precipitation level and temperature of the area.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Season | Weather |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | The division of weathers of different regions according to their geographical location | The existing atmospheric condition that can vary due to a difference in various factors |
| Reason | Seasons change due to the revolution of the earth around the sun | Weather changes due to change in atmospheric conditions, precipitation level, temperature and pressure |
| Area covered | It covers a wide region of the area, mostly an entire country or continent | Covers smaller regions such as cities or districts |
| Habitat changes | Causes changes in the habitats of fauna and growth of flora | Does not affect flora and fauna |
| Duration | Observed over a long duration, mostly 3-4 months | Observed over a short duration i.e., can change every day or weekly |
What is Season?
The season is the term used for defining the division of weather break over a large area. The division is done depending on the similarities in weather change pattern and the geographical location.
Seasons are caused due to distance between the location and the Sun. The closer it is to the Sun, the warmer is the season.
So the region near the equator has a relatively larger duration of warmer seasons than the ones near the pole.
Seasons have a long duration of three to four months since this is the duration that is required for the Earth to revolve and move to a different position concerning the Sun.
The division of seasons is not constant for all the regions. Some areas may have seasons that other areas do not experience.
For example, the seasons of India can be categorized as Summer, Winter and Monsoon whereas for the USA we can include Spring as well.
What is Weather?
Weather is the current condition of the area. This does not depend on the Sun or position concerning Sun and neither does it depend on the geographic location.
It only depends on the present atmospheric pressure, conditions, temperatures and level of precipitation.
Weather changes are seen over a short duration of time. The weather may change every day or every week with the respect to the changes in the factors.
Weather is also experienced over a small region. This means that unlike season, the weather of a city could be pleasant but the neighbouring city or the adjacent village may be having harsh and windy weather.
Main Difference Between Season and Weather
- Even though both are used for expressing the atmospheric conditions of the region, they still mean different things. The season is the common weather patterns observed and divided based on the geographic locations whereas weather is the current or existing atmospheric conditions that depend on various factors that keep changing.
- Change in seasons is observed due to the revolution of Earth around the Sun. But the revolution of Earth does not affect the weather because it solely depends on atmospheric pressure, temperature, precipitation level etc.
- Seasons cover large areas or regions. Seasons are seen to be constant throughout a country or a continent. The pattern of change is also observed to be similar for this area. Whereas weather is the condition of a smaller region such as a city. Sometimes, it does cover an entire city but just parts of it.
- Change in the season can cause changes in the natural habitats of the fauna and affect the growth of flora in the region. But since the weather changes every day or within a short span, it does not affect the flora and fauna of the region.
- The duration of a season can be 3-4 months whereas changes in the weather are observed over a short duration such as weekly or daily.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350607001400
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00140/full
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
