I heard the same system is dumping water in S.Cal. But these intense bursts of rain don't really help, that is just run off that quickly goes to the rivers. What is needed are sustained rains that can soak in and snowpack in the mountains.

This record is for the Phx airport, some cities in metro-Phx got between 5-6" of rain. That is a lot in 8hrs for a place that gets 7-9" yearly.
My commute home was less exiting as the rain and heaviest flooding had stopped, but I still had to drive thru 18" of water using the left most side of left most lane of a 3 laned (one way) road that was closed to motor vehicles for two 1 miles stretches. Over the axles in places, slowly and ready to fall from a hidden glob of mud.