section_path: Non-calendar-based reckoning/Tropical/Two seasons
section_name: Two seasons
paragraph_text: Two seasons
  
  In the tropics, where seasonal dates also vary, it is more common to speak of the rainy (or wet, or monsoon) season versus the dry season. For example, in Nicaragua the dry season (November to April) is called "summer" and the rainy season (May to October) is called "winter", even though it is located in the northern hemisphere. There is no noticeable change in the amount of sunlight at different times of the year. Instead, many regions (such as the northern Indian Ocean) have varying monsoon rain and wind cycles.
  
  Floral and animal activity variation near the equator depends more on wet/dry cycles than seasonal temperature variations, with different species flowering (or emerging from cocoons) at specific times before, during, or after the monsoon season. Thus, the tropics are characterized by numerous "mini-seasons" within the larger seasonal blocks of time.
  
  In the tropical parts of Australia in the northern parts of Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, wet and dry seasons are observed in addition to or in place of temperate season names.