Just between 8 and 11 p.m. Thursday, 3.30 inches of rain, 1.44 of that between 10 and 11, was measured at Philadelphia International Airport -- that's close to a month's worth.
In all, the daily total was 4.76 inches, and the far and away a Sept. 10 record. The old standard was 1.59 inches, set in 1909.
It also is more than had fallen in the entire previous 72-day period.
The rains have drowned the dry spelll. What fell between 8 and 10 was double the amount that fell during the entire month of August.
Flooding was reported western Gloucester County and in Eddystone, Delaware County.
The rain had been causing problems all day, the Phillies among its victims. After a two-hour delay, rain washed out the game between the visiting Chicago Cubs and Phillies, whose season was washed out some time ago.
At the airport just before 6 p.m. outgoing flights were being delayed an average of 37 minutes; landings, an hour and 26 minutes, and thunderstorms elsewhere are causing two-hour-plus delays of some Philadelphia-bound flights, according to flightaware.com.
The daily rain total exceeded what had fallen in the previous 45 days.
That dry run is one reason that major, widespread flooding hasn't occurred, as most rivers and streams remain well below flood stage.
But Frankford Creek did rise above flood stage for awhile, and rain like this can yield a harvest of road-ponding.
And downpours have caused problems near the central Jersey coast.
Earlier, lifeguards were enlisted to help with flooding and traffic issues in Sea Girt, according to a tweet posted by Gary Szatkowski, meteorologist in charge of the local weather service office.
Some road closings were reported in Long Branch and Ocean Township.
In the entire month of August, only 0.98 inches of rain was measured officially at the airport.
In the 30-day period that ended Wednesday, every county in the region was running a rainfall deficit, with totals barely a quarter of normal in Gloucester County, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.
Those figures will change significantly with Friday's update.