Southern Californians are unaccustomed to rainy days.  It rained yesterday from about 7 a.m. to about 7 a.m. today. I have a rain gauge in the backyard.  4.2 inches of rain was not a record but was one of the rainiest days we have had since 1997 when I started collecting data.

The Mojave Desert and adjoining mountain areas are more susceptible to significant rainfall.  A local television station was on Highway 138 just a few miles west of Interstate 15 reporting on the blocked two lane roadway.  As the reporter is giving an update from inside the vehicle a wave of water rolled across the desert surface that looked like a wave at the beach.

Nearby a few hours later, on Interstate 15 in El Cajon pass a fire truck was helping people evacuate from their cars, when the freeway itself collapsed sending the truck into a ditch.  That same local television station was there when that happened and you actually saw the truck quickly fall.  No one was injured as the crew was helping motorists.

With more than 22.5 inches of rain to date this season is one of the rainiest I have recorded.  The rainiest I have recorded was 48.3 inches in the 1997-98 El Nino year.  Long range forecasters had predicted this season would be a La Nina dry year.  So much for long range forecasting.

The following photo taken by a Daily News reporter in Studio City, that is near Universal Studios. That area is in the city of Los Angeles.

Two vehicles fell into the 20-foot sinkhole in Studio City Friday and firefighters had to rescue one woman who escaped her car. (Photo by Rick McClure for SCNG)