climate. n. 1. (Physical Geography) the long-term prevalent weather conditions of an area, determined by latitude, position relative to oceans or continents, altitude, etc. 2. (Physical Geography) an area having a particular kind of climate. 3. a prevailing trend or current of feeling: the political climate.
To achieve this goal most spray head zones (sprinklers that do not rotate) need to run approximately 15 minutes and rotor zones (sprinklers that do rotate) need to run approximately 45 minutes. If you have much slope on your lawn areas you may need to run 2 cycles but with shorter run times on the zones.
Instead, water in short intervals of about 10 to 15 minutes, turn off the water (or move the sprinkler) to let the water soak in, and then turn the sprinkler back on for another 10 to 15 minutes. Repeat this procedure until you get the water down to about 6 to 8 inches deep. You can avoid runoff in other ways.