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While only about 1 inch of rain is predicted tonight into Saturday, the winter storm from last weekend and heavy rain Tuesday into Wednesday has left the ground in the region saturated and increased the potential for flooding.
The flood watch issued by the National Weather Service Thursday is still in effect for Delaware, eastern Chester, eastern Montgomery, Lehigh, Lower Bucks, Northampton, Philadelphia, Upper Bucks, western Chester and western Montgomery counties.
It runs until 5 p.m. Saturday for eastern Chester, eastern Montgomery, Lehigh, Lower Bucks, Northampton, Philadelphia, Upper Bucks and western Montgomery counties; until 9 p.m. for Delaware County and until 1 a.m. Sunday for western Chester County.
“The most intense times for the rain is probably going to be late this evening and the first part of the overnight,” said John Feerick, AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist, Friday evening. “It’s probably going to be a six-hour shot of pretty heavy rain, like 8 p.m. until 2 or 3 in the morning. It should start to wine down after that.
“If it was just this storm by itself, at least in terms of the rain, flooding probably wouldn’t be that much of a concern,” Feerick said. “Because of what happened Tuesday, rivers and creeks are running very high, so this just on top of that obviously is cause for concern.
He said the region is probably going to get about an inch of rain, with a few spots seeing more than that.
The NWS also issued a wind advisory Friday for Berks, Carbon, Delaware County, eastern Chester, eastern Montgomery, Lehigh, Lower Bucks, Monroe, Northampton, Philadelphia, Upper Bucks, western Chester and western Montgomery counties that is in effect 8 p.m. Friday until Saturday at 5 p.m. Winds are expected to be 20 to 30 mph with gusts from 40 to 50 mph, possibly a little stronger in Delaware and Philadelphia counties.
“I certainly think there is going to be some impact from that,” Feerick said. “The peak wind gusts come probably when we are having the heaviest rain.
“It could cause localized damage with how soft the ground is, you’ve got to be concerned that some smaller trees could come down that causes some power outages.”
He noted that 45 mph gusts normally would not be too much of a concern with hard ground, but with how saturated the ground is, trees will potentially more easily uproot.
“I think by sunrise tomorrow morning the rain is gone and the sun is probably out and we’ll see some clouds filter back in throughout the day. It’s going to be windy and turning colder.
“It might start out in the 50s, but slowly falls back in to the 40s.”
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