A multidisciplinary volume of case histories presenting the work of professionals who investigated catastrophic damage caused by the 1992—1993 winter storms in southern California and Arizona. Papers in this volume discuss topics such as: why severe winter storms occur and how the resulting floods fit into the context of the geological record; flood-damaged infrastructure development and mining operations in river channels; storm damage to four counties in southern California; ground settlement intensified by rising ground water caused by infiltrating rain, and the subsequent litigation; warning the public of imminent debris-flow hazards and how to set the moisture and rainfall thresholds that must be reached to issue a warning; and major infiltrating-rainfall-activated landslides that damaged homes in southern California. The release of this volume marks the 50th anniversary year of the Engineering Geology Division.