Seasons

The Sun Doesn't Always Rise - An Introduction To Seasons
Sometimes the Sun doesn't come up. At the north and south poles, the dark of night lasts for 6 months, then the sun doesn't set for 6 months. The reason why night and day last so long at the poles will be shown in this lesson. You will also have a better understanding of why Missouri winters are cold and summers are hot.

It's all about angles:
In lesson 3 we showed that the angle of incoming sunlight is a major factor is determining how hot a location will be. Locations that are further away from the equator tend to be cooler. Seasons are based on the same principle. During the summer months in Missouri, sunlight is striking the Northern Hemisphere most directly. While the sun hits our region more directly during these months, locations in the Southern Hemisphere are cooler with less sunlight.

It's always warm somewhere:
While we are hot and steamy in Missouri during the summer months, locations in the Southern Hemisphere are going through winter. Let's compare the climate of two locations, one in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern Hemisphere.

St. Louis, Missouri and Adelaide, Australia

The data above for St. Louis is probably not surprising to you. July is much warmer than January. But Australia is south of the equator, in the Southern Hemisphere. The seasons in Australia are opposite of what we are used to in Missouri. Winter (July) in Adelaide is not extremely cold, but it is noticeably colder than January (summer).