We can no longer find the cloud. In Los Angeles, one reason why broadcast news pays so much attention to rain and potential rain is because the desert terrain sometimes cannot handle many downpours.
Roads quickly become lakes, and the sides of mountains suddenly drop in avalanches of mud.
So it was no laughing matter to local weather forecasters such as KTLA's Roland Galvan, when El Nino-related winter rainfall was predicted to be potentially as high as 200 percent to 300 percent above normal. Last September Galvan initiated a series of stories about preparing for winter rainstorms. The 30-second stories touched on everything from what exactly El Nino is to how viewers could tell what type of foundation underlies their homes. Galvan said he ran about 12 stories until his managers pulled the plug. But Galvan said he believes El Nino's recent impact on southern California was alleviated because news coverage raised public and governmental awareness to better prepare for the storms.