At 7 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5, Philadelphia International Airport measured 0.01 inches of rain, ending an 18-day stretch without a measurable drop. New York City and Philadelphia had last recorded measurable rain on Oct. 17, and Boston had gone nearly three weeks, the longest such streak there in two years. A cross-country storm is now bringing showers and heavier bands to all three cities.
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Philadelphia’s 18 days and the hundredth of an inch that ended them
The measurement was small enough to be easy to miss, and it followed a long run of dry, sunny days. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the streak was the city’s longest since the rainless October of 2024, and the paper did not give an exact date for the last measurable rain before the dry run began. Showers stayed light through Thursday daytime, the steadier rain was due Thursday night into Friday, and the Friday morning commute was the stretch expected to be slick before the rain ended.
The forecast rainfall for the city is modest: half an inch to an inch, with heavier amounts nearer the shore. Isaac Longley, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, told the paper that wet leaves can be almost like ice out there, and that weeks of dryness leave oil on the pavement that the first rain lifts to the surface. The Inquirer’s report adds that the weekend turns sunny, with afternoon highs in the low 60s.
New York City and the Oct. 17 mark
For the nation’s largest city the clock started on Oct. 17. AccuWeather’s Alex Sosnowski wrote that New York City, Philadelphia and Washington had all gone without measurable rain since that date, with many other areas seeing two to three weeks of dry weather. Parade’s forecast roundup counted roughly 19 days by Nov. 5 and said many communities had passed the two-week mark with nothing in the gauge.
FOX Weather described much of the Northeast as living through its longest dry streak of the year and listed New York City, Philadelphia and Boston among the places that had each gone more than two weeks without measurable rain. Its forecasters expected showers and storms to move into the East Coast on Thursday and continue through Friday.
How much New York City actually receives depends on where the heaviest band sets up. AccuWeather’s forecast calls for 1 to 4 inches inside a narrow strip of coast over 24 to 36 hours, Thursday night through Friday night, but it places New York City, Philadelphia, Washington and Boston near that strip’s northwestern edge. A small shift in the storm’s track would turn a soaking into a passing shower, which is why the same forecast gives such a wide range.
Longley described the downpour corridor in the same narrow terms for Philadelphia, saying the heaviest rain would likely land near the shore. For a region that has been reading the sky for three weeks, the practical question on Thursday was less whether rain would fall than whether it would amount to more than a trace, and the 0.01 inches logged at the airport answered only the first half.
Boston, the longest wait in two years
Boston’s forecast runs a step behind Philadelphia’s. Terry Eliasen, executive weather producer at WBZ-TV, wrote that scattered showers are possible on Friday, with heavier rain arriving late Friday afternoon or early evening and the heaviest falling Friday night into the predawn hours of Saturday. CBS Boston’s forecast puts the biggest totals across the southeastern corner of the state, with Cape Cod and the Islands in line for the most.
Boston sits at the edge of that band. Areas under the heavy rain could see 1 to 3 inches with isolated spots of 4 to 5, while places north and west of the city may get under an inch. Eliasen saw no concern about large river or widespread flooding after so dry a spell, only localized street and urban flooding where the heavier bands set up. By dawn on Saturday the rain band exits the coast, leaving mainly cloudy skies and a few scattered showers across southern New England.
Drought after the dry weeks
The rain arrives into an uneven drought picture. FOX Weather’s Julian Atienza and Alexandra Myers noted that drought conditions continue across New England, particularly in Maine, so a storm centered on the coast does little for the interior and the north. Around Philadelphia the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor listed only abnormally dry patches in parts of Bucks, Montgomery and Burlington counties, and the region as a whole remained drought-free. FOX Weather’s forecasters said the incoming rain could help ease dry conditions across the Northeast, while cautioning that downpours may still cause minor flooding. Friday’s leaf-clogged drains in cities that have not seen a real storm since mid-October are the likeliest place for that to show up.
Longley’s AccuWeather colleagues framed the benefit in fire terms as well, expecting showers and cooler air to lower the wildfire risk after weeks of dry leaves and brush. Whether the next weekly Drought Monitor map shows any easing in Maine, the state FOX Weather singled out, is the first measure of how much the storm mattered to the drought itself.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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