Rank the seasons

[Rev. Powell]

My choices:

Summer - best weather, vacations, my birthday!
Fall - OK weather at the beginning, Halloween, Thanksgiving, football, and the run-up to Christmas
Spring - improving weather but kind of boring
Winter - terrible weather, a little snow is nice, too much is a disaster; once New Years is over, nothing really going on

[claws]

Fall is vibrant foliage and cozy layers, but it always feels cut short, it's essentially become an extension of Summer. Winter, however, is for the soul. I love the long nights and the holiday spirit; I just wish a white Christmas wasn't a thing of the past. Even though the "Snowpocalypse" this week made the commute a nightmare, seeing the world buried in white feels right. That's how Winter should be.

Spring used to be a favorite, but now it's just a game of weather whiplash, chilly one day and 30∘C (86∘F) the next. It's just another precursor to Summer, my least favorite season. I can't stand the heat or the constant sweating. My ideal Summer peaks at 25∘C (77∘F), but since that rarely happens, I'll just stick to the rainstorms.

[Rev. Powell]

Fall is vibrant foliage and cozy layers, but it always feels cut short, it's essentially become an extension of Summer. Winter, however, is for the soul. I love the long nights and the holiday spirit; I just wish a white Christmas wasn't a thing of the past. Even though the "Snowpocalypse" this week made the commute a nightmare, seeing the world buried in white feels right. That's how Winter should be.

Spring used to be a favorite, but now it's just a game of weather whiplash, chilly one day and 30∘C (86∘F) the next. It's just another precursor to Summer, my least favorite season. I can't stand the heat or the constant sweating. My ideal Summer peaks at 25∘C (77∘F), but since that rarely happens, I'll just stick to the rainstorms.

I predicted you would rank them Winter, Autumn, Spring, Summer, so I guess I was off.

[claws]

I like Fall and Winter almost equally, but the lack of snow made me appreciate Autumn a little more.

[claws]

A Look Back: How Our Weather Used to Be

September used to carry the "taste" of Autumn in its first week. By the time school started on the 15th, we'd see the season's first morning frost, a rarity today. October was in full swing with plenty of rain and the occasional dusting of snow by Halloween. November was the month of perpetual fog. I remember it lasting for days on end, though now it's a rare sight. By month's end, the ground was always frozen solid.

December didn't always promise a "winter wonderland," but we usually had enough snow for snowmen and sledding. January held the title of the coldest month, followed by February which consistently brought fresh layers of snow. Even in March, the ice was thick enough for skating. April was known for lingering patches of snow at Easter, with the first hint of warmth only arriving at the very end. May was pleasantly warm, but never stifling.

As for June, July, and August, we had hot days, but the heat felt different then. Today, Summer feels like being an ant under a magnifying glass. I used to love the season back when we had three to five massive thunderstorms every month that would roll on all through the night.

[HappyGilmore]

Spring. My favorite. Especially after the snowy winter.

Summer. Longer days, beach trips, I get to make use of a walk in cooler when it's 105°.

Autumn. Love playoff baseball, and football.

Winter. No.

[Leah]

I went Autumn, Spring, Winter, Summer.
First two are bearable. winter doesn't get too cold for me, and summer is absolute Hell.

[Trevor]

Winter here is better than summer.

Pretoria is built in a huge dip in the land so all the cold air rushes overhead during summer 🥵

In winter the early mornings are freezing, warm by 10 am and by 4 pm you're freezing your butt off again.

[claws]

I asked AI

Across many polls in Europe and North America, the ranking often looks like this:

1. Autumn

    Frequently the most popular.

    People love the cooler weather, changing leaves, cozy atmosphere, and holidays.

    Strong aesthetic appeal (colors, fashion, vibes).

2. Spring

    Often a close second.

    Associated with renewal, flowers, longer days, and mild temperatures.

    Popular with people who like warmth but not heat.

3. Summer

    Loved for vacations, long days, beaches, and outdoor activities.

    Also the most polarizing—some adore it, others dislike the heat.

4. Winter

    Usually the least popular overall.

    Still a favorite for people who love snow, holidays, and cozy indoor time.

    But cold, darkness, and travel issues push it down for many.

Climate: Someone in a hot region may love winter; someone in a cold region may crave summer.

Lifestyle: Students often love summer; hikers may prefer autumn; skiers love winter.

Aesthetic preference: Autumn and spring dominate because they're visually striking.

[Rev. Powell]

It does depend on where you live, too. When I lived in Vegas Summer wasn't my favorite, but I would still rank it ahead of Winter.

[bob]

Autumn, Spring, Summer, Winter

[zombie no.one]

Winter, Summer, Autumn, Spring

(omg. controversial. hot take alert. don't @ me)

[Alex]

Always liked those long autumn evenings. I'd go out for long walks in them and rarely see another person and it felt like just for a while, I was the only person in the world.

[Dr. Whom]

It does depend on where you live, too. When I lived in Vegas Summer wasn't my favorite, but I would still rank it ahead of Winter.

Very much so. Belgian winters are miserable. It is dark most of the time, it is uncomfortably cold and it rains a lot. You only get a couple of day of snow and clear crisp weather.

[AlbertMond]

Voted Autumn, Winter, Summer, Spring... but Spring and Summer are almost interchangeable. It depends on the day, really - Spring could even be better than Summer. Something about Spring comes with a little tiny bit of excitement, and especially when it's still not so hot - the feeling of things coming alive, it still feels new and nice, although it doesn't always match the environment outside of my head. Spring can feel very pretty that way, though!

Paradoxically, I don't really bother with Summers anymore - it's too hot! But there's a mental image of Summer as a long, winding season full of events and life and excitement which hasn't dissipated from my psyche. When all the venues are closed and the young people are all too afraid to go outside, and the heat is too hot to walk fifty feet, and every remaining event costs a million dollars at the door, I think I'll still imagine Summer as a fun, action-packed season. I think I imagine a lot of things that way, sometimes it was never even true - I hold onto images of things as they were presented, and not as they really were. With Summer that's not the case, though, it used to be cool - it probably still is!

Winter is a beautiful season to be a species which builds houses, insulates them, and burns fuel for warmth. Also a species that wears clothes. What a splendid thing! Especially if you can lie in bed, that's a huge bonus. You can lie in bed, under a blanket, and dream in the night in the winter, with the chill air gathering outside your window, trying to get in but FAILING. You can't come in, chill air! Not much of you, anyway! You're not allowed betwixt the shutters of THIS domicile!!!
It doesn't usually get so cold here, but the thought of cold air, acres of frost-covered grass, the white day through the bare trees, and the deep, dark, night thick with chilling stillness, home lights shining yellow through the blackness, the moon over miles of contorting, frozen forest limbs - very nice, top 2 season!

Fall stuck with me as a season that's just so beautiful for reasons that can't be fully communicated. I often feel like so much about the world today aims to alienate people from this sense of awe at nature, or to can it all and bottle it and try to piggyback off of it. How do people allow themselves to be so twisted that they can't appreciate how beautiful it is when the leaves change color and start to fall, when the sky starts to turn grey, and the breeze playfully tosses the auburn foliage over the grass? It's just so pretty! And it gets colder, even if it's not at the rate that it used to, and it's not as long as it used to be, and it's such a relief from the Summer when it finally comes. Things are still alive, but not with the intensity of Spring or Summer - you know, so it's not all frozen over, it's not so cold, but there aren't quite as many bugs flying around and there's not so much pollen.
And here are the harvest festivals, Halloween, horror, camp, confectionery, cider, & pies. I don't get why people need to go around killing people and bombing them and spying on them and all that. We've already got printing presses, honey, squash, plenty of buildings, and the woods! The heck you need anything else for?
You can sit and admire the orange leaves, they say, but that's a gift to you from the powers-that-be, and you've got to serve them! Don't take too long to watch the setting sun through the tangled Autumn branches because you've got to get back to your true purpose paying your debts to the merchants of death who use those very proceeds to wage war on all the world for whatever reason. Nature is a fleeting fantasy, reality is all printed on paper and subject to the whims of irrational human beings, and the paper will be around forever, until the death of the sun which may as well be happening tomorrow so why bother to get acquainted with the Earth when you'll be deep inside of it that much sooner than any of these paper monuments will fall? Sometimes everything that matters feels so far away, but it's less than a year until Fall.

A Look Back: How Our Weather Used to Be

September used to carry the "taste" of Autumn in its first week. By the time school started on the 15th, we'd see the season's first morning frost, a rarity today. October was in full swing with plenty of rain and the occasional dusting of snow by Halloween. November was the month of perpetual fog. I remember it lasting for days on end, though now it's a rare sight. By month's end, the ground was always frozen solid.

December didn't always promise a "winter wonderland," but we usually had enough snow for snowmen and sledding. January held the title of the coldest month, followed by February which consistently brought fresh layers of snow. Even in March, the ice was thick enough for skating. April was known for lingering patches of snow at Easter, with the first hint of warmth only arriving at the very end. May was pleasantly warm, but never stifling.

As for June, July, and August, we had hot days, but the heat felt different then. Today, Summer feels like being an ant under a magnifying glass. I used to love the season back when we had three to five massive thunderstorms every month that would roll on all through the night.

I remember that. I got the worst "update" ever when I decided to go for a walk on a September day some years ago and it turned out it was 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I didn't even bother checking beforehand, it didn't used to be like that!