Coming Soon: Summer?

After spells of rain that have left the foliage so lush that some roads in the region resemble green tunnels, on the first full day of summer some actual Philadelphia-style weather may be on the horizon.

In the meantime, showers and below-normal temperatures are on the atmospheric menu for the next few days, and a coastal-flooding advisory is in effect into tonight. That's the result of onshore winds and new-moon tides.

But at this writing - and if you've been paying attention you'll recognize that as a major caveat - rain evaporates from the forecast by the end of the week, and temperatures could make a run at 90 on the weekend.

No heat wave is in sight, just "what people expect it to be, not what's happened," in the words of Valerie Meola, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly.

For all the rain we've had - and June precipitation officially is more than twice normal at 4.58 inches in Philadelphia - rainfall for the year remains a tad below average.

And for now, the stream gauges aren't scaring anyone. The Delaware River at Trenton is at 13 feet this morning, or 7 feet below flood state. The Neshaminy at Langhorne is just above 2 feet; flood state is 9.

That's the continuing legacy of a very dry winter. Streams for the most part have stayed within their banks despite two serious runs at consecutive-day rainfall records.

A streak of eight straight was broken on Friday; a streak of nine ended on May 8.

The result: One of the greenest, lushest Junes in memory.