Weather: Heavy Rain Expected This Weekend
By Steven Strouss
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If you didn't get your dad a Father's day present yet, you may want to consider an umbrella. Heavy rain is expected this weekend as remnants from Tropical Storm Bill spin eastward into the Delaware Valley. A Flood Watch is in effect for our entire region Saturday evening through Sunday because of the threat of downpours and flooding. Parts of the United States have already received record rainfall amounts from Bill and several rivers in the South are flowing above their banks. Since Tuesday, over 11" of rain has fallen in Newport, Oklahoma and over 12" of rain been measured in Montague Texas. These areas don't need the excessive rainfall as they are already recovering from one of the wettest Mays in history.
Flash Flood Watches stretch all the way from Missouri through Maryland and the storm will have affected over 20 states and 1800 miles before it exits the US East coast on Sunday. Our area will receive between 1-3" of rain with the heaviest occurring between 12AM-8AM Sunday morning. Some streams and creeks will rise quickly and poor drainage flooding may occur but flooding is not expected on main stem rivers. After the storm pulls away, another round of showers and thunderstorms, along a front, could will more rain Sunday afternoon.
Sunday also brings the arrival of another big event. In addition to Father's Day, Summer begins at 12:38PM EDT. The Summer solstice is the day with the most hours of sunlight during the entire year. In Philadelphia, the sun will rise at 5:32AM and set at 8:33PM for a total of 15 hours worth of daylight!
