Rain rally in the Philly region dampens drought concerns, and it’s about to get a whole lot greener

For those for whom lawn care is a rite of spring, this would be an excellent time to reacquaint with the mowers, assorted whackers, and other weapons in the garden arsenals.

Those surprisingly vigorous rains that set off some minor flooding Thursday night into Friday, with a few splashes Saturday, significantly eased a precipitation deficit that had been building for six months.

And even though no more than a stray shower is expected Sunday, it all will have a lingering effect on the Philadelphia region’s landscape.

» READ MORE: Yes, the weather has been quite topsy-turvy lately

“We’ll start to see more greenery coming up in the next week or two,” said Joe Curtis, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.

The vegetation already appears to be off to a promising start, and by absorbing some of that rainfall, its appetite for water likely was a factor in sparing the region more significant flooding into Friday, he said — not that the rains didn’t try.

“There were some impressive totals,” said Amanda Lee, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

Amounts of 2.5 to close to 3 inches were common in Philadelphia’s neighboring Pennsylvania counties, where rainfall inched above normal for the 90-day period that ended Friday, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.

» READ MORE: This was the drought situation last month

Philly was within a sprinkle of normal for the period, and that all had to do with what fell Wednesday onward.

Amounts on the Jersey side during the week were a tad less, but the seven-day totals through Friday still were more than double normal. In Philly and its neighboring Pennsylvania counties, they were about 3½ times the long-term averages.

The rainy resurgence was associated with a sprawling upper-level disturbance that has been affecting much of the East, Curtis said.

It’s the same complex system that has been a source of torment for the golfers in Augusta, Ga., host of the PGA Masters Tournament. Winds there gusted past 25 mph Saturday afternoon, and temperatures were in the low 50s: The normal high in Augusta on April 9 is 76.

The system was able to lure moisture from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and the rains were more quenching than earlier forecast. The weather service in Mount Holly didn’t issue a flood watch until midafternoon Thursday, after the rains were well in progress.

Ironically, the U.S. Drought Monitor had the entire region labeled “abnormally dry,” with about half of it in “moderate drought” in its weekly update Thursday. That could change over the next week, although the forecasts are calling for a rainless next several days.

It will be quite cool Sunday when the Phillies and Oakland A’s end their season-opening series at Citizens Bank Park, with highs in the low 50s expected. Patchy frost is possible Monday morning as temperatures fall into the 30s, the weather service says.

The rest of the workweek promises to be a foretaste of warmer times ahead with highs all four days in the 70s, but like everything else this time of year, that’s subject to change.

Another storm could affect the region during the Easter weekend, Curtis said.

In the meantime the vegetation should remain well-nourished and the aesthetic results should be pleasing.

“Things are definitely going to start turning greener,” Curtis said. “That’s one positive about all this rain.”

Better check those mowers.