End of year is still far away!

For some reason I still can't figure out:

Everyone loves to to add up annual rain totals by the "calendar year."

A Year in Rain:
2012

The animated map above shows the annual rain total across the United States for 2012 (with just a few days to go), toggling back and forth with an image of the long-term average year. This year's rainiest spot east of the Mississippi was the coastal Louisiana. Not too far away was the driest spot, too. Can you see the expansive drought across the Midwest.

Florida more or less had a normal year, more or less.


What's my beef about the calendar year?

Meteorologically it splits south Florida's dry season in two.


A better break is the start of May,

i.e. the month the new wet season arrives.