Starbucks started selling its pumpkin spice latte Tuesday, as the Philadelphia region’s heat index hit the 90s

Perhaps the people at Starbucks got confused by that ever-growing legion of brown leaves littering the yards and fields in the region.

Then again, maybe they figure that we’ve all about had it with the steamy summer of 2022.

Whatever the reason, on yet another sultry day during a summer that is about to set yet another record — not to mention 24 days before the autumnal equinox, and 62 days before Halloween — Starbucks on Tuesday began selling its popular pumpkin spice latte, along with other pumpkin-themed products.

“The first sip of a Starbucks ‘pumpkin spice latte’ or ‘pumpkin cream cold brew’ cues the unofficial start of the fall season for many customers,” the company said in a news release announcing the great pumpkin rollout.

» READ MORE: A Center City Starbucks is closing due to safety concerns among workers

You say you’re still recovering from Flag Day? You say at this rate we’ll be hearing “Winter Wonderland” by Labor Day?

With the heat index soaring into the 90s around here Tuesday, it might seem incongruous to be marketing products associated with an oversize orange gourd long associated with the first frosts.

Actually, however, the 19th annual opening day for what the chain calls the PSL comes six days later than last year’s. And it will be a little pricier than last year’s version, up about 4%, according to CNN. A 16-ounce “grande” was going for $6.21 at a Center City Starbucks on Tuesday, and $6.10 in King of Prussia.

» READ MORE: Some Philadelphia Starbucks workers have voted to unionize

Based on the company’s official nutritional readout, that would be roughly 1.5 cents per calorie: A grande contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar and 390 calories, considerable units of body heat on a day when it reached the low 90s.

Yes, it’s mighty hot, but so is the competition in the preseason coffee-product university, notes Richard George, food-marketing professor emeritus at St. Joseph’s University.

The seasonal jump-start is likely a “competitive response” to convenience stores, such as Wawa, which has its own pumpkin-spice arsenal, and other quick-service food places that are marketing their own varieties.

George says he bought a pumpkin spice at Wawa at least 10 days ago — about three weeks sooner than it was available last year. “As soon as the pumpkin spice came out, I got it,” he said. “It was 95 degrees, but I got it.”

He said it makes sound business sense: “Wawa gets a nice bump from this.” Heat or no heat, people buy coffee. And even though some Jersey beach towns will be checking tags for another week, summer is on the run psychologically, he said. “Next week, we turn the page and the Shore comes in the rearview mirror.”

Given that the pumpkin spice latte is “a hot commodity,” said Matt Johnson, professor of consumer psychology at Hult International Business School and Harvard University, Starbucks is attempting to “expand the range while still keeping the seasonal connection.

“Our taste perception is so suggestible compared to other senses,” said Johnson, author of Branding That Means Business and estimates he buys one of these lattes once a year. “It’s almost as if we’re drinking the fall with every sip of the pumpkin spice latte.”

Latte or not, it is going to be awhile before it actually feels like fall after a two-month siege that is all but certain to set a record for the warmest July 1-Aug. 31 period in Philadelphia in 150 years of official record-keeping.

Based on Wednesday’s forecast, the average temperature for the 62 days will come in at 81.7, a half-degree warmer than 2016, the current record-holder.

» READ MORE: This time around, it looks like forecasters were generally right about this summer.

After rounds of much-needed showers Tuesday night, the weather is due to cool nicely the rest of the workweek, with refreshing nights and daytime temperatures no higher than the mid-80s.

But fall weather as we know it isn’t imminent, and readings are due to head back to 90 on the Labor Day weekend.

Once upon a time, that was considered the unofficial end of summer.