San Francisco broke a daily record for rain that had been in place since 1887 on Tuesday, with a pounding 2.53 inches of rain falling, according to the National Weather Service. The rain was so heavy at times that it fell in almost white vertical sheets, quickly overwhelming storm drains in some areas.

After months of extremely dry conditions in Southern California, an atmospheric river storm delivered much-needed rain to a region plagued by wildfires in January. Scattered showers fell across the region late Tuesday and strengthened on Thursday,