Chandler’s Marlowe novels are associated with trench coats and fedoras — and rain. But they take place in Los Angeles. It turns out that The Big Sleep came out at a peculiar time:
In fact, heavy rains and flooding covered the LA area in February and March 1938. The Red Cross called it the fifth-largest flood in history, and the Los Angeles Times reported a death toll of more than thirty.
In fact, the previous two years (1936-1937 and 1937-1938) were exceptionally rainy.