Downpours, and a downright nasty “hybrid” storm

The fitful downpours and umbrella-wrecking winds have eased off, but it looks like rain will continue well into the night in Philadelphia as a "hybrid" storm - part-tropical and part-coastal - continues to spin near the Jersey Coast.

Over 4 inches of rain fell in Atlantic City and elsewhere at the Shore, and the 2.3 measured in Wilmington was an all-time record for the date, said Jim Eberwine, the marine specialist for the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. Philadelphia has recorded 1.85 so far.

Winds gusted past 60 m.p.h. at the Shore, and hit 48 m.p.h. in Philadelphia. Offshore waves reached 19 feet, and 8.5 feet near the surf, said Eberwine, and flooding was widespread.

At Philadelphia International Airport over 100 flights were canceled or delayed. "Some flights are experiencing flights delays of three hours," said airport spokeswoman Phyllis VanIstendal. For a time SEPTA had to suspend service on the busy R5 Paoli line.

"The main problem we're having is the trees falling down and getting on the tracks," said SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch.

PECO reported about 37,000 power outages.

The storm causing all the mayhem intensified suddenly this morning off the Delaware coast. It had a structure similar to a tropical storm, with an eye and heavy spiraling rainbands, said Eberwine.

"When it was inhaling down south, it got some tropical air," he added.

Strong winds lashed the Shore yesterday and through the night. "They've been ripping down there," said Eberwine, who lives in the Atlantic City area. "They kept me up all night." He said gusts of 50 to 60 m.p.h. were reported.

School was canceled in Wildwood because of street flooding.

But by late morning, winds were almost dead calm in Wildwood, said Eberwine, a sign that the storm's "eye" was passing nearby.

The strong winds were generated by the pressure differences between an area of high pressure, or heavier air, to the north, and the hybrid storm.

Winds circulate clockwise around centers of highs, and counterclockwise around centers of lows. Thus the Shore was perfectly positioned to get caught in an east-wind sandwich.

The storm also is being blamed for a number of motor-vehicle accidents throughout the region. Affected highways included I-95, in Chester and Philadelphia, the New Jersey Turnpike in Salem County, Route 38 in Cherry Hill, the Atlantic City Expressway in Hammonton, the Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden and both the northbound and southbound lanes of Route 42 near the Walt Whitman Bridge.

Road-ponding was widespread throughout the region.

This evening, the storm is expected to move west toward Philadelphia, said Eberwine, but conditions have eased.

Once the storm moves away, the weather should improve immensely. A chance of showers is in the forecast tomorrow, but the weather after that looks gorgeous through Thursday.