Warning! Curmudgeon talk following.
Traditionally the seasons are defined as the time between a solstice and an equinox. To wit:
Winter--winter solstice to spring equinox.
Spring--spring equinox to summer solstice.
Summer--summer solstice to fall equinox.
Fall--fall equinox to winter solstice.
Meteorologists, realizing observed weather doesn't correspond with these traditionally defined seasons, consider meteorological seasons to begin and end one month (30 days) earlier. Meteorological winter, for example, begins about November 21 and ends about February 21.
Weather is what is happening outside right now.
Climate is the average of weather over a period of time, and the period over which meteorologists average weather is 30 years.
Climate change is the difference in the 30 year weather average when different 30 year periods are compared. Example, when U. S. weather averaged over the years 1961 to 1990 is compared to U. S. weather averaged over the years 1991 to 2020, the 1991 to 2020 average was warmer than the 1961 to 1990 period. So we say the climate is warming over this time period.
Because the climate is changing, every 10 years NOAA updates the 30 year period used to make statements about what is 'normal' weather. Each 10 year 'block' of weather data is called a "U. S. Climate Normal", and the 30 year period used to calculate 'normal' right now is 1 Jan 1991 thru 31 Dec 2020. When we roll into January 2031, the 30 year period used to make 'normal' comparisons will be updated to 1 Jan 2001 thru 31 Dec 2030.
Here is a NASA publication on the differences between 'weather' and 'climate': https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa ... ather.html
Here is a NOAA publication about the "U. S. Climate Normals" and their use in weather forecasting:
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land ... te-normals
My New Years wish is that we have fewer extreme weather events in 2022--the June 2021 heat wave, the Feb 2021 ice storm, and the Sept 2020 foehn wind event (that blew up the fires) were all highly unusual.
Happy New Year to all!! Make a snowball while you can!
BurnsideBob