Geography and ecology of the Everglades is nourished primarily from the atmosphere. Before the first attempt at draining the Everglades in 1882, the entire watershed extended from Orlando to Florida Bay comprising the Kissimmee–Lake Okeechobee–Everglades (KLOE) watershed. Kissimmee River outlets flow into Lake Okeechobee, which sits above sea level. Only two seasons exist in the Everglades: wet (May to November) and dry (December to April). Average annual rainfall in the Everglades is approximately , though fluctuations of precipitation are normal. Droughts, floods, and tropical storms are normal occurrences in the area. When Lake Okeechobee exceeds its water storage capacity during the wet season, it pours slowly
Lake Okeechobee the 1951 Gary Cooper film, "Distant Drums". Lake Okeechobee is the setting of a climactic scene in Carl Hiaasen's 2002 novel "Basket Case" (Ch. 28). Used in the John Anderson song "Seminole Wind" Lyric: "And blow, blow from the Okeechobee, All the way up to Micanopy". Lake Okeechobee is the setting of a significant part of Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God", and the movie of the same name. Janie and Tea Cake go there to work "on the muck." Hurston refers to the lake as "Big Lake Okechobee, big beans, big cane, big weeds, big everything".