WHEN IT RAINED ON OUR PARADE

Many Southlanders curse the fair weather that normally accompanies the Tournament of Roses parade, complaining that each sunny Jan. 1 is followed by flocks of Eastern snowbirds who come to Southern California seeking a respite from Arctic temperatures.

But few may realize that rubbing Los Angeles’ temperate weather in the cold noses of shivering Easterners was a big part of the original motivation for the parade. Armed with a fistful of newspaper clippings about the great New York blizzard of 1888, Charles Frederick Holder proposed a festival, featuring a parade, to the Pasadena Valley Hunt Club to promote the area’s mild climate. “In New York, people are buried in snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear,” he declared. “Let’s have a festival and tell the world about our paradise.” Thus began sunny Southern California’s annual tradition.

In its 102-year history, rain has fallen on the parade only six times.

1899--The parade was delayed and sporting events were canceled. At 3:45 p.m., the convoy of flowered floats began, ending on a muddy Colorado Boulevard. Precipitation measured in Los Angeles: 0.56 of an inch. (Pasadena precipitation data not available.)

1910--Rain postponed the parade until noon and the chariot races for a week. Precipitation: 1.69 inches.

1916--Rain held the football crowd to 7,000, causing organizers of the event to lose $11,000. Precipitation: 0.22 of an inch.

1922--Only the last 15 minutes of the parade were dampened by rain, but it was a soaker. Precipitation: 2.08 inches.

1934--A record-breaking 12.86 inches of rain within a 48-hour period added new meaning to the term float for this Rose Parade--which had Navy Admiral William S. Sims as its grand marshal and “Tales of the Seven Seas” as its theme. Almost half of the parade’s 20 bands performed before soaked crowds from inside buses, playing such favorites as “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More,” “Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main,” and “Over the Waves.” Humorist Will Rogers wrote to The Times: “Us old settlers (that have been here five or 10 years) never saw anything like it. We are so tickled to see rain out here that we put on a big parade in honor of it.” New Year’s Day precipitation: 6.21 inches.

1942--1946--Parade was canceled because of World War II.

1955--Precipitation of 0.21 of an inch translated into a light drizzle for parade spectators and a drenching for those attending the bowl game.

Sources: “Tournament of Roses: The First Hundred Years,” by Joe Hendrickson, and the Pasadena Public Library.