Pasadena, Calif. ? For the first time since 1955, rain doused the 117th edition of the Tournament of Roses, which ordinarily is a kind of infomercial for sun-drenched, citrus-sweet Southern California.

Even so, hundreds of thousands of sturdy, poncho-clad souls lined Pasadena streets on Monday to cheer on 25 marching bands, gape at 48 flower-bedecked floats, and wave back at Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the parade’s grand marshal.

Oddly, the grand marshal in the 1955 parade, which was merely moist by comparison with Monday’s downpour, was Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren.

With magic as the theme of the pageant, the organizers managed to pull a bedraggled, chilled, soggy rabbit from their hat before a crowd that was storm-tossed but still exuberant.

And it was a great day for true believers in the parade’s magic.

John Poole, 72, of Pasadena, shouted “Thank you!” whenever a marching band strode past his spot toward the end of the parade’s five-mile route.

The most cheers were for the marching band members, who braved the cold, wind and rain to perform their songs and twirl their batons. Some band members pretended there was no rain and marched in shorts and wore sunglasses. The crowds cheered the effort, which mattered more than the performances.

Supporters of the University of Southern California, one of the participants in Wednesday’s Rose Bowl football game, seemed to have an edge. But there was no shortage of University of Texas ponchos.

“You can buy them at the bookstore,” said UT alumnus Cayce Coburn, a human relations specialist. “I had to come to sunny California to use it.”

The rain intensified as the parade progressed down the boulevard. Some parade watchers who had started the day with resolve melted away as the rain continued. Even the live broadcast on Los Angeles television station KTLA was interrupted for a flash-flood warning for the L.A. area.

The stands at the start of the parade at Orange Grove and Colorado boulevards began to thin as the parade progressed. An increasing number of bare spots were visible among what had started as well-filled bleachers.

On some floats, the pelting rain washed away some of the seeds used on the faces, feathers and buildings that made up the floats.

Overall, the floats held up. One reason was the advance of glue technology.

“Back when in rained in ’55, they didn’t have waterproof glue,” Kevin Moore, the tournament liaison, explained before the start of the parade. “Now we have waterproof glue.”