When Are The Dog Days Of Summer

The phrase dog days of summer actually has nothing to do with man s best friend.

When are the dog days of summer. The term dog days traditionally refers to a period of particularly hot and humid weather occurring during the summer months of july and august in the northern hemisphere. Thus the term dog days of summer came to mean the 20 days before and 20 days after this alignment of sirius with the sun july 3 to aug. Although it is certainly the warmest period of the summer the heat is not due to the added radiation from a far away star regardless of its brightness. Today the dog days of summer occur during the period between july 3 and august 11.

The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot sultry days of summer they were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system sirius which hellenistic astrology connected with heat drought sudden thunderstorms lethargy fever mad dogs and bad luck they are now taken to be the hottest most uncomfortable part of summer in the northern hemisphere. Plural noun the period between early july and early september when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere. It turns out that the ancient greeks and romans weren t referring to real dogs but to the great.