Los Angeles and San Diego are both expected to see about 2 to 3 inches of rain. Substantially more rain — 4 to 7 inches or more — is probable in the mountains to the east of Los Angeles and San Diego.
What got screwed up was translating that into "OMG HAIR ON FIRE", because that level of rain happens every few years, and while it can cause damage, it is not that big a deal. It is rare in summer, but not rare in Southern California.
My recollection is the SFBA gets around 20 inches of rain annually. Three inches in a few days time is 15 percent of the rain it is supposed to get all year. It's a lot. The landscape won't cope well, especially if it's already seen rain prior.
We saw 2 inches of rain one day in The High Desert, an area that gets 6 inches annually. The flood waters took weeks to recede and brine shrimp hatched out.
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