Heavy afternoon rain pounds Philadelphia area

"Rainfall of 1 to 2 inches in an hour is expected with widespread poor drainage street flooding," states a flash flood warning issued shortly after 2 p.m. by the National Weather Service.

According to weather radar, Delaware County, Philadelphia and Camden County in South Jersey were most affected.

As of 2 p.m., flooding was already jamming traffic on Route 42 in both directions in Camden County near the Walt Whitman Bridge, according to traffic.com. Soon, flooding was also reported on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden and westbound Route 70 near Kings Highway in Cherry Hill.

A floating dump truck with a possible road collapse was reported in Prospect Park, according to a tip service.

Parts of the Blue Route (I-476), I-95 and McDade Boulevard were also experiencing flooding as of just before 3 p.m., according to KYW radio.

By then, the severest weather was moving farther into South Jersey, raising hopes of some clearing by rush hour in the city, although SEPTA had begun warning of possible delays on all regional rail lines. (For latest, see www.septa.org.)

At 2:30 p.m. PECO was reporting about 1,500 customers were without power in parts of Philadelphia and Delaware County

Incoming flights to Philadelphia International were delayed about 90 minutes, according to the FAA website.

Forecasters were right that this morning's bursts of rain might not be the only showers to show up today.

The flash flood warning in effect through 4 p.m. was for selected areas from Lancaster County to Burlington County. Areas cited included Wilmington, southern Montgomery County, South Philadelphia, west central Burlington County, and northwestern Gloucester County.

A less severe flash flood watch applied to the entire region - from North Delaware into North Jersey - through 4 p.m.

Small waterways were susceptible to rapid rises, because enough rain for an average July has fallen in the just the last two days.

Looking ahead, hot and muggy weather is probable Thursday, Friday - and beyond.

Thursday and Friday should see highs back in the 90s, and high humidity could bring a new round of excessive heat warnings.

"It will be humid so heat index values, especially on Friday, will be up near 100," said meteorologist Jim Poirier of the service's Mount Holly office.

The discomfort levels could rival the days of dry heat that set records last week.

"This will be different. The humidities will be higher," Poirier said.

Saturday and Sunday could be steamy and stormy, with more temperatures in the low to mid 90s, as a slow-moving front brings a 30 to 40 percent chance of thunderstorms both days.

As of this morning, those storms were not expected to be severe.

"We'll have to see how things evolve," Poirier said

Monday could be in the 90s as well.

For more on the forecast, go to http://go.philly.com/forecast.