Hey, Joe! If all the heat and humidity the last couple of weeks don't count as summer, then what does? ;-)

Seriously, the argument that summer begins on or around June 1 is not based on feeling, but on fact. My original post linked to an interview with climate researcher Kevin Trenberth. Decades of weather records support his contention that summer -- the warmest part of the year -- begins on June 4.

In the end, it's all a matter of definition:

* If you define summer, as most people do, to mean "the three warmest months of the year," then it's June, July and August.

* If you define summer, as climatologists do, to mean "the warmest quarter of the year," then it's June 4 through September 3.

* If you define summer in cultural terms to mean "the season of outdoor fun," then it's Memorial Day through Labor Day.

* And if you define summer, as annoying TV weathermen do, to mean "the period from the moment the Sun is over the Tropic of Cancer to the moment is is over the Equator," then people are going to scratch their heads and look at you funny. Because while that definition may be very precise, it's also pretty meaningless.

Besides, calculating seasons by temperature rather than by light means you get to start enjoying summer a full three weeks before the weatherman does!

The summer solstice has not always been used as a calendar -- American dictionaries, encyclopedias and calendars cited June 1 as the beginning of summer until very recently.

Farmers plant long before the solstice, usually closer to the spring equinox.

As to your question, no matter where you live in the northern temperate zone, the coldest months of the year will be December-January-February (technically Dec. 4 to March 4). Throughout that period, you are going to be considerably warmer than Minnesota, that's for sure. Nevertheless, both regions experience their respective versions of winter at the same time.