Perhaps the flooding was more noteworthy than I said earlier. Here are some excerpts from the Palm Springs Desert Sun newspaper on Dec. 22, 2010:
The four-day storm that pounded the Coachella Valley with rain is over, a meteorologist said tonight.
"It looks like most of the rain is starting to taper off and come to an end," AccuWeather.com meteorologist John Dlugoenski told The Desert Sun just after 7 p.m.
Among the other latest details compiled by Desert Sun reporters:
* The 2.25 inches of rain that fell today smashed a record that had stood for 65 years for most rain on Dec. 22.
* The light showers that are still lingering tonight should break into mostly sunny skies for Thursday and Friday.
* Many major roads remain closed across the Coachella Valley, though the reports of crashes and water rescues have quieted down.
During the four day storm that began Sunday, the Palm Springs airport recorded 3.61 inches of rain throughout the last five days.
That's more than five times what Palm Springs normally sees for the entire month.
The majority of that rain -- 2.07 inches, or about 62 percent -- fell since midnight today.
That's enough set a new record for the day, surpassing the 1.9 inches of rain that fell in Palm Springs on Dec. 22, 1945, according to the National Weather Service.
"Let's put this into perspective. It's a drop in the bucket for what some other people have had -- but we've had considerable amounts of rain," Clark said.
Until the clouds broke for drier skies, emergency responders had spent their morning and early afternoon swamped with calls of flooded roads, flooded homes and the need for water rescues.
The Riverside County Fire Department has responded to nearly 1,000 incidents in the last 48 hours, a spokeswoman said early this afternoon.
Countywide, that includes more than 300 car crashes, more than 125 flooding calls, 47 water rescues and 13 power lines down.
Roads close, travel becomes difficult
As more rain has fallen, it's become increasingly hard to get around the Coachella Valley and get out of town.
At the Whitewater Wash, Palm Springs has blocked off Gene Autry Trail, Indian Canyon Drive and Vista Chino. Cathedral City closed Cathedral Canyon Drive and La Quinta has closed Adams Street.
Indio also has shuttered Avenue 44 at the Whitewater Wash because of flood damage, and warned Tuesday it could be closed until mid-January.
"We know there's been some damage, (but) the floodwaters are still there and rising," said Adrienne Dunfee, principal civil engineer for the city. "We don't know what the full damage is going to be."
Ground-level wash crossings have been closed for days, and flooding also closed other streets around the Coachella Valley.
Flooding along Indian Canyon Drive and on Palm Springs Station Road cut off access to the city's Amtrak train and Greyhound bus station Wednesday morning, according to Palm Springs police.
The storms prompted Riverside County leaders to declare a local emergency Tuesday, one of six in the state later also proclaimed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. That is a first step toward possibly receiving state funding for the response to the storm.
