Without this daily deluge, Florida would be a desert. The rainy season is the state’s life support. It refills the Biscayne Aquifer, which provides drinking water for Miami. It flushes out the brackish estuaries, saving the manatees and the snook. It turns the scrubby palmetto bushes into a jungle of emerald green.

Welcome to the Florida Rainy Season. It is not merely a weather pattern; it is a daily ritual, a biological reset, and a test of character for the 22 million people who call the peninsula home.

The breeze dies. The birds go silent. The sky turns the color of a day-old bruise.

Just don’t forget to bring a towel.