Where were the floods?
Despite record rains, once again region spared of major widespread flooding.
Flooding closed I-295 southbound between Exits 14 and 11 in Logan Township, Gloucester County, on Thursday night.
Numerous roads were closed in Greenwich Township and Woodbury, according to National Weather Service storm reports.
But beyond Gloucester County, reports of serious flooding were sparse – hard to believe on a night when almost a month's worth of rain poured into Philadelphia's official rain gauge.
It's been awhile since the region has experienced widespread flooding, and in this case the good fortune was the product of a beneficial alliance between timing and location.
While rainfall was lavished generously throughout the entire region, the cosmic totals were confined to small patches that included Southwest Philadelphia, eastern Delaware County, and adjacent South Jersey.
Had the heaviest rains fallen to the north and west, where the land slopes upward, flooding might have been a bigger deal.
"Where this fell doesn't have terrain issues," said Gary Szatkowski, meteorologist in charge of the local National Weather Service Office.
What's more, the rains came while the vegetation retained a late-summer thirst, made all the more voracious by the erstwhile dry spell.
The total rainfall Thursday – officially near 5 inches at Philadelphia International Airport – exceeded the combined rain total for the previous 72 days.
Szatkowski said the heavy rains were wrung out from a saturated atmosphere and essentially were stalled because of weak steering currents aloft.
But neither the Delaware River nor the Schuylkill were impressed with the deluges. The Delaware at Trenton never got above 9.1 feet; flood stage is 20. The Schuylkill at Philly peaked at 6.56; flood stage is 11.
Other flash-flooding superstars failed to rise to the challenge. The Brandywine at Chadds Ford had a crest at 3.22; flood stage is 9. Chester Creek made it to 3, or 5 below flood state.
The Cooper River at Haddonfield got as high as 2.27, but still fell short of the 2.5 flood stage.
"We're probably as fortunate as we could be," said Szatkowski, given the prodigious rainfall totals. Rain is in the forecast for the weekend, but not flooding.
Not only has the region avoided major flooding in recent years – it has evaded drought. As Szatkowski observed, It seems that whenever a dry spell gets going, a deluge comes along to douse it.
May that luck continue.