Records rains welcomed in drought-hit California, but is it enough to turn the tide?

Experts say the cycle of going from years-long drought to record-breaking downpours is something expected to continue because of climate change.

A powerful storm that swept through California set rainfall records and helped douse wildfires. But it remained to be seen how much of a dent it made in the state’s drought.

The system weakened as it moved south but still dropped enough rain Monday evening to cause mudslides that closed roads in the San Bernardino Mountains northeast of Los Angeles.

In the northern part of the state, drenching rains caused widespread flooding and rock slides over the weekend. Strong winds knocked down trees and even toppled two big rigs on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge near San Francisco. Pacific Gas & Electric reported that 380,000 homes and businesses lost power, though most had it back Monday.

Despite the problems, the rain and mountain snow were welcome in Northern California, which is so dry that nearly all of it is classified as either experiencing extreme or exceptional drought. The wet weather also greatly reduces the chances of additional wildfires in a region that has borne the brunt of another devastating year of blazes in the state.

The National Weather Service called preliminary rainfall totals “staggering,” including 11 inches (28 centimeters) at the base of Marin County’s Mount Tamalpais and 4 inches (10 centimeters) in downtown San Francisco, the fourth-wettest day ever for the city.

“It’s been a memorable past 24 hours for the Bay Area as the long talked-about atmospheric river rolled through the region,” the local weather office said Monday. “We literally have gone from fire/drought conditions to flooding in one storm cycle.”

Northeast of San Francisco, 5.44 inches (13.82 centimeters) fell on downtown Sacramento, shattering the one-day record for rainfall that had stood since 1880.

Along the central coast, nearly 5.4 inches (13.72 centimeters) of rain was recorded at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo County. In Southern California, 1.1 inches (2.79 centimeters) fell in Beverly Hills.