Some folks are being ignorant and dismissive with "just", and some are relating their personal experiences.
I have caught myself saying "just 2 inches of rain" since we get that frequently, sometimes in an hour or two. For many people that is a dangerous and life changing amount of rain... and that can be easy to forget if it isn't for you.
tldr; hanlon's razor
That said, I have trouble imagining anyone saying “just 6 inches of rain and 50 - 70 MPH sustained wind speeds”. The low end of tropical storms aren’t that bad but it covers a wide range.
Both of your references are at the end of the scale, but not particularly unusual for areas I’ve lived in. It’s both a lot of snow and very cold, but it’s not that much more snow or that much colder than what most people have seen.
And nowhere sees a full blown tropical storms or 3+ feet snowstorms more than a handful of time a year.
There is nothing “just” about tropical storms with tracks over the State of California.