Among many Catholics and Anglicans, it is a custom to observe Ember Days, a cluster of four sets of three days in the calendar year, roughly around the start of the four seasons. They are set aside by the Church as a way to mark the passage of seasons through prayer and fasting.
What Are Ember Days?
The name is derived from the Latin quattuor tempora, meaning “Four Times” or “Four Seasons.” The specific themes for each Ember Week of the year are as follows:
- Spring: the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Ash Wednesday, to give thanks for the rebirth of nature and for the gift of light (usually flowers are offered at this time).
- Summer: Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Pentecost, to give thanks for the wheat crop.
- Fall: the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the Feast of the Holy Cross (September 14), to give thanks for the grape harvest.
- Winter: the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the Feast of St. Lucy (December 13), during the third week of Advent, to give thanks for the olive crop.
The significance of the days of the week is that Wednesday was the day Christ was betrayed, Friday was the day He was crucified, and Saturday was the day He was entombed.
When Are Ember Days In 2025 and 2026?
- Summer Ember Days – June 11, 13, 14, 2025
- Fall Ember Days: September 17, 19, 20, 2025
- Advent Ember Days: December 17, 19, 20, 2025
- Lenten /Spring Ember Days – February 25, 27, 28, 2026
Ember Days Folklore
According to folklore, the weather conditions of each of the three days of an Embertide foretells the weather conditions for the following three months.
The Farmers’ Almanac has long carried the Ember Days in each of our editions.
It was cloudy, rainy and chilly in Nebraska on Friday
Beautiful day in Jefferson City MO. Partly cloudy,warm & no rain
Beautiful day. Partly cloudy, very warm
Sunny & 82 degrees here , beautiful weather in New Bern North Carolina
I’m in DeWitt, Michigan. It is sunny and 78 degrees, with a beautiful breeze.
86° partly sunny and breezy here in mt.carmel Illinois
Sunny and slightly cooler, gorgeous! here in Mooringsport Louisiana
Hi Patricia! Sounds like a beautiful November is on the way for you, according to this popular folklore! Check the weather again tomorrow for insights into December. 🧡
It is a beautiful day here in Central New York!
Hi Debbie, Thanks for telling us! Our Winter Weather Forecast – https://www.farmersalmanac.com/extended-forecast – calls for some snow in the Northeast mountains in November, so this will be interesting to watch together. Please stay in touch and consider joining our Membership, which gives you access to 12 months of long range weather forecasts – https://www.farmersalmanac.com/online-memberships. Best wishes from all of us at FA!
Keep it as coincidence
Last year your snow predictions were wrong .
But we’ve changed our earth (,pollution etc) ,Mother Nature is confused .
.Me too .Perhaps these folklore stories will prove to be right?Or get your bathing suits out in December in NY.
Hi Fran! We love your sense of humor. Thanks for the smile. 😊 Yes, let’s watch the weather together and see what happens!
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod retain the older dating system. They remain, for us, the days after the Feast of the Holy Cross.