def group_months(x):
    """ A binning function to reduce the number of months patterns are released. """
    if x < 3:
        x = 1
    if 3 <= x< 5:
        x = 2 
    if 5 <= x< 7:
        x = 3
    if 7 <= x< 9:
        x = 4
    if 9 <= x< 11:
        x = 5 
    elif 11 <= x< 13:
        x = 5 
    return x