Rains surprisingly generous
For once, hit and miss rains were hits; officially, Philly's heftiest rain of July.
It's been awhile since we've seen actual mud, but we did notice some this afternoon on our favorite trail in the woods.
That was the legacy of last night's rains. You might recall that showers were well forecast during the day, but the period of steady rain that followed that gust front was somewhat of a surprise.
Based on the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center daily report, a general 0.4 to 0.7 inches fell across the region.
The 0.46 at Philadelphia International Airport represented the biggest one-day total in this dry July.
This time, Cape May County, which has been pounded recently and has the smallest year-to-date precipitation deficit in the region, got shut out.
The heftiest totals were in Gloucester and New Castle Counties.
Despite the rains, the year-to-date precipitation deficits remain impressive, at least way from the Shore.
Kent County's precipitation since Jan. 1 stood at 60 percent of average through yesterday. Camden and Gloucester were in the 60s, and Burlington and Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania neighbors, in the 70s.
Showers tomorrow should be far more scattered and isolated; humidity will be ubiquitous.
A footnote: The official high reached 90 today in Philadelphia for the 20th time this month.