Thunderstorms crashed across the sky, and by day's end, 0.83 inches had landed in Philadelphia's official measuring cup.
The rain that fell on a steaming Aug. 1, 2011, wasn't enough to end the drought watch that was in effect at the time.
But by Sept. 1, drought was about as hot a topic around here as global warming was during the Little Ice Age. A total of 19.31 inches of rain was measured for the month, a record for any month in Philadelphia.
That would be 3.77 inches more than the official 15.54 that has fallen through the entire first seven months of this year at Philadelphia International Airport.
It is beyond unlikely that this month would match last August's for precipitation, but some indicators are showing a turn toward the wetter.
And last year proved that a summer can change character as quickly as a baseball team.
In fact, the summer of 2012 has behaved similarly to last summer in some respects.
It has gone toe-to-toe with it for heat. July 2011 was the warmest on record in Philadelphia, at 82.3 degrees, and last month came in at No. 3, with an average temperature of 81.8. With 21 days of 90 or better, last month tied a July record.
Not surprisingly, the first seven months of 2012 constituted the warmest such period on record, with an average temperature of 58.6, more than a half degree better the former champ, 1991.
As last year, June and July rain deficits were impressive. Rain was about 60 percent of normal for the last two months, compared with about 70 percent in 2011. That helped set off the drought watch.
So what could turn the faucets back on?
Recall that last year, the August rainfall received a juicy contribution from the remnants of Hurricane Irene. Tropical remnants are an important source of moisture for the Philadelphia region.
This year, the tropical-storm got off to a record start in June, with four named storms -- those with winds of at least 39 m.p.h. -- by June 23.
In July, however, the storm machine in the Atlantic Basin went dead.
But in its updated tropical-storm outlook issued this morning, Accu-Weather is calling for the season to get going again, and expects eight more storms to develop by the time the season ends on Nov. 30.
In July, mass quantities of dust from the Sahara across the Atlantic Basin -- the Saharan Air Layer -- repelled storms, said Dan Pydynowski, a meteorologist with Accu-Weather Inc.
In addition, high pressure in the Atlantic impeded storms; the descending currents of heavy air in high pressure tend to discourage clouds.
But the pressure and the Saharan dust are showing signs of backing off, he said.
Already, he said, an area of storminess is brewing in the eastern Atlantic.
"That will be one to watch over the next several days," he said.
The government's Climate Prediction Center sees the odds tilted toward above-normal precipititation over the next two weeks. The temperature outlook remains a muddle, but an Inquirer survey indicates that most people have had enough of the heat.
Most also want more rain -- but not a repeat of August 2011.
Contact Anthony R. Wood at 610-313-8210 or twood@phillynews.com
