On an annual basis, rainfall in the warm humid regions often exceeds evapotranspiration, the loss of water by plants and soil.   For example, coastal southeast Florida averages about 1.5 meters rainfall compared with 1.1 meters evapotranspiration, per year.  The natural wet-dry cycle of the region is more extreme than northern Florida.  There is a naturally occurring dry season generally from March through May when landscape and turf plants die from lack of water.