Coming soon to Philly: A splendid back-to-school week, and the ocean is going to calm down
The ocean might even be swimmable by midweek.
Joining the pumpkin spice purveyors and the nation’s schools in the seasonal creep movement, the atmosphere evidently is about to serve up a “spectacular” fall prelude for what will be the start of the school year for hundreds of thousands of kids in the region.
“It’s going to be a nice week for those who like a touch of September,” said Ray Martin, a lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.
What’s more, he added, for those who will be spending time at the Shore during the last week in August, it might be safe to go back into the water by midweek, as the reign of rip currents backs off.
And for the second year in a row, it’s possible that the nation will weather Labor Day without the traditional hurricane or tropical storm threat.
At last, erstwhile Hurricane Erin is calling it a career
On the mainland, Erin was mostly a nonevent with a name, save for the threat of nuisance flooding along the Delaware River that was expected to persist into early Monday.
At the Shore, however, its ocean-plunging action was a royal pain, with several rounds of tidal flooding that led to road closings and even some evacuations and water rescues in Atlantic City at the peak on Thursday night.
It also imposed an interdict on ocean swimming that looks to continue through Sunday, with the weather service calling for a “high risk” of rip currents.
That threat is likely to back off during the week, said Martin and John Feerick, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
At last report from the National Hurricane Center, the remnants of Erin were heading toward Iceland.
Another tropical storm was forecast to pop in the Atlantic off the Carolina coast; however, it looked to be heading too far east to have much of an effect on the waves landing on Jersey shores, Martin said.
Feerick concurred. At the Shore, he said, “As we get through the week, it’s going to be a lot more conducive to swimming.”
Showers are possible Sunday night and before daybreak Monday, but in its Saturday morning forecast discussion, the weather service promised that Tuesday through Friday will feature a “spectacular early fall treat” with cool nights and highs mostly in the 70s.
Those readings are normal for mid- and late September.
And it’s not going to rain after Monday morning.
Actually, the Philly region could use a little rain
On Saturday, the region got to see what a clear, blue sky looks like without a film of wildfire smoke.
Expect encores during the week.
However, the lack of rain is beginning to raise some concerns. Officially, precipitation at Philadelphia International Airport this month is about half of normal.
Despite widespread rains last week, rainfall is below normal throughout the region during the last 30 days, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.
In Thursday’s U.S. Drought Monitor update, parts of South Jersey were showing up as being “abnormally dry.”
“This time of year, if we don’t get rain from a tropical storm or landfalling hurricane, a lot of times you can get some pretty long, dry stretches,” Feerick said.
“And it looks like that’s going to be the case.”
Recent rains in the Philly region were not from Erin, but from a system that nudged Erin into the far North Atlantic.
But experience affirms that the absence of tropical moisture around here isn’t always a bad thing.