A flash flood warning is up for the I-95 repair zone and areas along the Delaware River

Downpours that doused some places with up to 2 inches of rain in a hurry set off flash-flood warnings along the Delaware River from Philadelphia to northern Delaware, including the damaged area of I-95 where temporary lanes had opened at noon on Friday.

Heavy rains were expected to back off after 7 p.m., said Joe DeSilva, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, and the warnings were to expire at 8:30 p.m. The warned areas included parts of Delaware, Montgomery, Gloucester, Camden, and New Castle Counties.

The weather service said flooding could have impacts on I-95, the Schuylkill Expressway, the Vine Street Expressway, I-476, and I-295.

It did lead to lane restrictions on I-95 southbound at Girard Avenue, the weather service reported, and a lane closure on 95 near Exit 4 at the Commodore Barry Bridge. PennDot said that two southbound lanes on the Betsy Ross Bridge were shut down.

Even though stream and river levels remain low due to the prolonged dry spell, it rained hard enough for Pennypack Creek in Philly to rise to minor flood stage with a 4-foot jump in an hour, the weather service said.

Once the heavy rains shut off, DeSilva said, things should calm down considerably, and any thunderstorms are “going to be isolated.”

Although the downpours were confined to a relative narrow corridor, the rainfall should make some contribution to ease an impressive precipitation deficit.

Rainfall has been about half of normal in the Philly region in the last 30 days, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center, and close to 80% of Pennsylvania was in a state of “moderate drought” in the latest U.S. Drought Monitor survey.

“It should make somewhat of a dent,” DeSilva said, and shower chances are in the forecasts at least through next Friday.