Rain seems endless, but it still falls short

If it seems as though it's been raining every day, it has.

At least a trace of rain has fallen on eight straight days, the second consecutive month we've had a stretch like this, and showers pop up in the forecast every day through Monday.

Yet, so far, no widespread flooding has occurred, and any flood problems have been confined to specific streams.

Why?

True, rainfall for the last three months has been 20 to 30 percent above normal throughout the region. But - believe it or not - precipitation totals for the year are below normal. In Philadelphia, they are down about 15 percent.

Stream levels still are building back from a very dry winter.

What's more, says Tony Gigi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, all this rain has yielded a harvest of green that is quickly sponging up the rain that falls.

He warns, however, that the flood picture could darken in a hurry if a tropical system comes by and wrings out widespread downpours.

For now, the main impact of all this rain can be seen in the region's overgrown lawns, including Gigi's.

He asks: "Do you have a goat I can borrow?"