Flooding minor, but heavier rain expected Sunday

Scattered rain showers and minor flooding hit parts of the Philadelphia area Saturday, but with the heaviest precipitation offshore, 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 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 coastal areas had the least amount of rain from the Friday-Saturday system.

Overall measurements of rainfall Saturday ranged from traces to less than one-tenth of an inch throughout the area. In Philadelphia, the weather service reported three-hundredths of an inch of rain, which barely added to the record precipitation in the area - more than 28 inches since Aug. 1.

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

Low-lying areas in Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks Counties were affected to varying degrees by streams that flowed over roads, but "the actual rainfall amounts were at the lower end of what was expected," Gigi said of the two-day rainfall.

Most of the flood watches and 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 2 feet above flood stage.

A state police spokesman at the Coatesville barracks said that road flooding was a problem Friday night near the Brandywine but that there were no significant problems Saturday morning.

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

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

Some minor flooding was reported, but there were none of the massive disruptions that have accompanied the heavier rainfalls of the last two months.

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