Storms move through the Philly area, bringing heavy rains, tornado warnings, and flooding

After 10 months of precipitation deficits, the Philadelphia region was due for some drought relief — but maybe not this much relief, this fast.

Powerful thunderstorms that set off tornado and severe-storm warnings and waterfall-like downpours arrived in the region Monday just in time for the peak afternoon commute and the France vs. Iraq World Cup match in South Philly.

And while the tornado warnings and the worst of the storms had backed off by nightfall, the rains were reluctant to give it up, and the National Weather Service warned that more heavy showers are possible Tuesday.

“It’s been a while since we had rains like this,” said Patrick O’Hara, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, which issued multiple flood warnings into the evening. Flooding occurred on the Schuylkill Expressway near Gladwyne, and several water rescues were reported in Cheltenham Township.

Frankford Creek in Philadelphia rose well into moderate flood stage.

The agency also had issued two tornado warnings for parts of Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties after Doppler radar had detected radar signatures.

Multiple uprooted trees were reported in the Valley Forge area, officials said. Several reports of downed wires and trees branches and hailstones came from across the region from Chester County and South Jersey.

The timing could have been worse, but maybe not much worse for World Cup participants and the nearly 70,000 fans who came to watch the rain-interrupted match.

A severe-storm warning for Philly popped up just as the World Cup match between France and Iraq in South Philly was underway. That was quickly followed by one for Southwest Philadelphia, parts of Delco, and South Jersey.

The weather service’s flash flood watch remained in effect until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

On Monday afternoon an early arriving strong storm passed through parts of Philadelphia and Burlington County, snapping trees and taking down “multiple branches” in the Holmesburg section of the city, the weather service said.

That was followed by a potent storm that generated strong winds and torrential rains north and west of the city and then even stronger storms and flooding downpours throughout the region.

Not likely. Life is not fair, and neither is summer rain, which by its nature is capricious.

About 1.2 inches of rain was measured at Philadelphia International Airport on Monday, with over an inch of that falling between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The rains weren’t evenly distributed across the region, but the Philly total is of some significance: It brought the city’s total close to the normal for June.

Based on the forecasts of the potential for more substantial rains Tuesday, Phllly stands to break an impressive streak of 10 consecutive months of below-normal precipitation.

Most of the region is in “moderate drought” according to the inter-agency U.S. Drought Monitor, and Cape May County, most of Delaware, and New Jersey areas along the Delaware Bay are in “extreme drought.”

State-declared drought emergencies are in effect for New Jersey and Chester County.

It is unclear how helpful Monday’s rains were in terms of dousing the drought condtions.

Downpours aren’t known for their attention spans, and rains can run off rapidly.

“If the rain doesn’t penetrate the soil, it doesn’t help,” said O’Hara, “Ideally, it would soak into the ground over a couple-day period. That would really help.”