Widespread areas of Los Angeles experienced flooding and heavy rainfall on Sunday as a winter storm moved through the area, breaking a 97-year-old record for rainfall in one day.

Though the day started clear and bright, with a golden sunrise illuminating the skies, raindrops began falling by midday — and by nightfall, the drizzle had become a deluge.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

Damage reports piled up late Sunday as a slow-moving storm system steadily pummeled Southern California, and downtown L.A. broke a 97-year-old rainfall record.

In Studio City, a debris flow sent mud and other objects flowing down the 11900 block of Lockridge Road, damaging at least two homes, Los Angeles firefighters said. All nine homes on Lockridge Road were evacuated, including pets, “in case further soil instability causes another flow,” firefighters said. There were no injuries. Sixteen residents were displaced.

…

On Sunday, downtown L.A. had seen 4.1 inches of rain, which broke the record for the calendar day set on Feb. 4, 1927, when 2.55 inches of rain was recorded. Sunday was the third wettest February day on record and tied for the 10th wettest day for any time of year since recordkeeping began in 1877, the National Weather Service said. (The wettest day ever was March 2, 1938, which brought 5.88 inches of rain.)

Several schools announced closures for Monday, though the bulk of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools remained open, as of this writing.

The San Francisco Chronicle noted that the storm, a “Pineapple Express” or “atmospheric river” that swept in from the Pacific and hit the whole state, had been classified as a “bomb cyclone,” which results from a dramatic decrease in air pressure.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.