More rain, but flood danger ebbs

Scattered rain showers and minor flooding plagued parts of the Philadelphia area Saturday, but with the heaviest precipitation occurring off-shore the region was spared any major headaches.

More rain is in the forecast, however, and officials at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly said additional problems could develop Sunday when heavier and steadier precipitation is possible.

"The greatest impact will be near the coast," according to a weather service report issued Saturday afternoon. "Winds are not a concern, but additional rainfall is."

The report noted that the coastal areas had received the least amount of rainfall from the Friday-Saturday rain system.

Overall measurements of rainfall Saturday ranged from "traces" to less than 1/10th of an inch throughout the area. In Philadelphia, the weather service reported just 3/100ths of an inch of rain, which did not add significantly to the record precipitation in the area - more than 28 inches since Aug. 1.

Rainfall on Friday was measured at 2.35 inches, according to Anthony Gigi, a meterologist with the weather service.

Low-lying areas in Chester, Montgomery and Bucks County were effected to varying degrees by steams overflowing roads, but "the actual rainfall amounts were at the lower end of what was expected," Gigi said in discussing the two-day rain fall.

Most of the flood watches and flood warnings that had been issued Friday were lifted Saturday, although the weather service did report flooding along the Brandywine Creek near Chadds Ford, where the creek crested at 10.9 feet, nearly two feet above flood stage.

A State Police spokesman at the Coatesville barracks said road flooding was a problem Friday night near the Brandywine, but that there were not significant problems Saturday morning.

The Schuylkill River at Norristown crested at flood stage of 13 feet around 10 a.m., but then gradually subsided.

Police in Philadelphia and in the Pennsylvania and South Jersey counties surrounding the city reported no major problems related to the weather on Saturday.

There was some minor flooding reported, but none of the massive disruptions that have accompanied the heavier rainfalls of the past two months.

While Sunday's rain is expected to be heavier, Gigi said the rain pattern would be "hit and miss" with precipitation "scattered" throughout the region.