As of Jan. 4, 2025, Downtown L.A.'s current rain season (that began July 2025), with a cumulative 14.20 inches of rainfall, ranked as the second wettest season through January in 21 years. This falls behind the wettest season by only slightly more than a tenth of an inch. Downtown L.A.'s normal rainfall for the entire 12-month season is 14.25 inches. This rain season, only six months in, is already just shy of that number.
Image from The Athenaeum via Wikimedia Commons
Early 1800s. For the last 100 years, the automobile has been central to life in the Los Angeles region. For the 100 years prior to that, it was the horse. Angelenos, especially those of the Spanish and Mexican period, were said to live on their horses. The landscape painting above is of Mexican caballeros and the ranch owner, titled "Roping Wild Horses," by renowned painter James Walker, 1875.
Like all cities, Los Angeles has its share of colorful nicknames, some traced as far back as the mid-1800s.
