If you’re planning to camp out along Colorado Boulevard to grab a prime viewing spot for the Rose Parade, you’ll want to pack a good poncho.
For the first time in two decades, the annual parade might get rained on, as more wet weather is expected in Southern California this week.
You’re reading the Essential California newsletter
The holiday rain totals, on top of strong storms in November, have made for one of the wettest rainy seasons in SoCal. Downtown Los Angeles has received 11.13 inches so far this season. A normal amount by this point would be 3.28 inches, according to Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
The possibility that sheets of rain could soak floats and marching bands pales in comparison to last week’s muddy storm, which produced a small tornado in Boyle Heights and played a role in the deaths of five people.
But it could put a damper on the parade, which last experienced wet weather in 2006. Before that, rain hadn’t fallen on the parade since 1955, my colleagues reported — and only eight other times since the floats began rolling in 1890.
Rain is expected to begin falling on New Year’s Eve night, with as much as a tenth of an inch expected, along with an additional half inch on New Year’s Day, Thompson told The Times.
Before you gather your umbrellas and rain boots, let’s take a look at the history of the Rose Parade and what to expect for the 2026 production.
A floral fantasy
Despite the potential for showers during the 137th Rose Parade, the event has long been known to showcase not just pretty floats carpeted in flowers but also Southern California’s sunny weather.
In fact, Pasadena’s distinguished Valley Hunt Club started the parade as a way to promote the city as a paradise of blooming flowers and beautiful weather.
Members of the club came up with a festival of outdoor events — including chariot races, jousting, footraces, polo and tug of war — that would eventually become the Tournament of Roses and be preceded by a parade in which participants decorated their carriages with hundreds of blooms.
A carriage is decorated in flowers for an early Rose Parade in a postcard from the collection of Times staff writer Patt Morrison.
The annual event has come a long way since the early days of horsedrawn carriages decked in flowers. It has expanded to include marching bands and motorized floats and, in conjunction with the Rose Bowl game, generates a lot of revenue for the region. The parade and game brought in $245 million in 2024.
The parade’s evolution
Diversity among floral patterns has been on display at the Rose Parade since 1890. Diversity among its members and royal court? Not so much.
The Times’ Patt Morrison pointed this out in a column from 2012, noting that the parade hadn’t always put women, Black Angelenos or other people of color in visible roles. The parade had been around for 43 years before a woman served as grand marshal.
The NAACP threatened in the 1960s to send 10,000 protesters on New Year’s Day unless the queen and court selection process was opened up to young women of color, Patt recalled. A Black woman and a person of Asian descent finally joined the parade’s royal court in 1969.
Times have certainly changed since then, as the organization has appointed many women and men of different races to be grand marshal. This year’s parade theme is “The Magic in Teamwork,” and the grand marshal is basketball legend and entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
How fitting!
The parade kicks off at 8 a.m. Jan. 1, will cover 5.5 miles and will feature floral-covered floats, equestrian units and marching bands.
It’s been all hands on deck for an army of volunteers who work on getting the floats ready for their run down Colorado Boulevard. Take a look at what’s happening behind the scenes.
Today’s top stories 
A CHP vehicle is parked outside the state Capitol in Sacramento. The agency has instituted new ways of drawing recruits.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
How the CHP is drawing a flood of new recruits when the LAPD and other agencies struggle to hire
- The California Highway Patrol has sworn in more than 600 officers in 2025 while the Los Angeles Police Department’s academy classes averaged just 30 recruits, hitting record lows.
- The CHP streamlined hiring by outsourcing background checks and launching digital applications, while the LAPD relies on the city’s overburdened Personnel Department.
- The CHP also has revamped its marketing strategy, emphasizing not only the $122,000 annual starting salary for new hires but also the numerous unique assignments and opportunities for advancement such as: “You can fly a plane, ride a bike, ride a motorcycle, have a dog.”
California has lost more than a quarter of its immigration judges this year
- The reduction in the number of immigration judges comes as the Trump administration scales up efforts to deport immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
- California has lost at least 35 immigration judges since January, down from 132, while at least 97 judges have been fired nationwide since President Trump took office, and about the same number have resigned or retired.
- Critics say the departures could mean a loss of due process.
L.A. fire cleanup reports describe repeated violations, allege illegal dumping
- Federal oversight reports allege that the main contractor hired to clean up the Eaton and Palisades fires may have illegally dumped toxic ash, reused contaminated soil and cut corners.
- Inspectors documented crews moving fire debris onto neighboring properties, burying ash and burned materials to avoid full removal, re-contaminating “cleared” lots and spraying polluted water into storm drains.
- Despite warnings about lead and other toxins, FEMA refused to fund post-fire soil testing. State agencies are noncommittal about how they will handle such testing in the future.
What else is going onCommentary and opinionsThis morning’s must readAnother must readFor your downtime 
(Ruby Fresson / For The Times)
Going outStaying inA question for you: What is your New Year’s resolution?
Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally … your photo of the day 
A stairway is about all that’s left of a house on PCH in Malibu that burned down in the Palisades fire.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Today’s great photo is from former Times photographer Wally Skalij at the site of a house that burned down in the Palisades fire on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. It is part of The Times’ top photos of 2025.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.