Flood Watch in Effect Through Wednesday Morning

A flood watch is in effect through Wednesday morning for Chester and Delaware counties as well as a large section of the region from northern New Jersey across eastern Pennsylvania and parts of Delaware. 

The National Weather Service advisory says the watch area covers most of the I-95 corridor from Virginia to New York and northwest into Pennsylvania.

According to the weather service, a slow moving storm system started moving in Monday evening and will continue to soak the region with the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. Heavy rain is in the forecast until Thursday night when the weather service predicts only a "chance of showers." Rain should finally be moving out Friday night and Saturday is the first sunny day in the short-term forecast.

The rain is just what the saturated mid-Atlantic does not need after the wettest August on record and Hurricane Irene. Local roads are back open after Irene's winds combined with saturated ground to topple trees which fell across roads, yards and power lines. While the current rain system is not packing the same high winds, root systems for large trees remain a concern. Flooding in low lying areas is also a concern as well as more flooded basements.

The weather service statement said parts of southeastern Pennsylvania had already seen an additional 2 to 2.5 inches between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. According to the weather service, "that was just a start. Another round of heavy to potentially excessive rainfall is on the way."

The weather service predicted the area could see as much as another inch of rain between Tuesday and the time the watch expires at noon on Wednesday.

Click here to read the entire advisory from The National Weather Service.