It’s not that Cullman County didn’t need all the rain that fell in the overnight hours leading into Wednesday — it’s just that it didn’t need it all at once.

Broad areas throughout the county received rainfall totals late Tuesday and early Wednesday that approached three inches, with the heaviest totals falling across the county’s southern half. The heavy overnight downpour caused multiple incidents of spot flooding, though recent dry conditions and moisture-parched ground meant all of the flooding episodes were short lived.

“By 7 a.m. this morning, all of the water had receded in locations where there had been flooding,” Cullman County EMA director Tim Sartin said on Wednesday. “Any additional rain that falls, and we’re expected another 1.5 to 2 more inches tonight [Wednesday] — could lead to additional flooding issues, though, because the ground is already saturated.”

The weather’s expected to briefly dry out Thursday, with forecasts calling for only a slight chance of rainfall across the area. More rain could come on Friday, though, as a weaker storm system sets up to enter north Alabama in the latter part of the day before giving way to friendlier skies on Saturday.

With crops in the ground and animals to care for, local farmers could use a little wet weather — so long as it comes in smaller doses, said Sartin. As of this week, the U.S. Drought Monitor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had placed the county’s northern reaches, along with most of an adjacent swath of Morgan County to the north, in the “Abnormally Dry” category, the lowest threat level that registers on the monitor’s five-category drought scaling system.

“We did need the rain. We were reaching a point where our farmers needed it,” Sartin said. “It was a good thing; it’s just the overabundance of it in a short amount of time that can become a concern. But by next week, we’ll probably be wishing for it again: The heat index is forecast to hit 105 degrees by next Tuesday.”