From the Archives: Vehicles caught in 1920s downpours
A similar photo to the one above accompanied a Feb. 5, 1927, Los Angeles Times article reporting:
Partly cloudy weather with moderate temperature for today was forecast by the Weather Bureau last night following one of the season’s heaviest rainfalls. The precipitation, which was general over Southern California, was particularly heavy in Los Angeles, the rain gauge showing 2.53 inches for the city. …
So fast did the rain come down yesterday morning that many districts in the city were completely under water, traffic was tied up downtown, basements were flooded and motorists were marooned in streets. ... On the whole, however, no great damage was done, despite the spectacular nature of the downpour. The heaviest deluge in the downtown district, according to the Weather Bureau gauges, came between 9:30 a.m. and 10:10 a.m. during which time 0.54 of an inch of rain fell. …
Vernon Avenue, in the vicinity of 11th Avenue, ran true to form and the flood held up motorists. At one point several automobiles had to be abandoned in the middle of the street when waters rose so high they swept over the floors of the cars. …
The photo above, and the first one below are from the same scene at West Vernon and 11th avenues. In addition, I’ve added four photos of trapped vehicles from the 1920s. These images from the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive at UCLA do not have complete caption information, but were all taken during rainstorms in the 1920s.
This post was originally published on Dec. 2, 2014.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
