In Los Angeles Any Rainfall Is A Storm

As a native of Pennsylvania, where it rains frequently and no one gets too excited by it, I'm continually surprised that every weather system that moves through Los Angeles is invariably called a storm. Here in Eagle Rock it rained gently Friday night with occasional heavy periods. It was hardly a "storm" though. There was no wind. The rain fell straight down. Trees weren't whipping around and wind lashed rain wasn't tearing their branches away. There was a little lightning but occasional lightning in an area as big as Los Angeles doesn't make a comparatively mild weather system into a storm. Here's a question. How light does the rain have to be before the media simply refers to it as rainfall or showers, rather than a big time storm?