Heavy rains are expected later Sunday, and the region is in for a wet few days

The weather took a hostile turn in parts of the region Saturday night, and while the storms Sunday aren’t expected to be as intense, rainfall will be more widespread, forecasters say.

The atmosphere will remain well-juiced with water vapor through at least Tuesday, forecasters say, and predicting precisely when and where nature will use the squeezer is very much an elusive pursuit.

Heavy rains set off flash-flood warnings in portions of Chester and Delaware Counties, and up to 4 feet of water covered the intersection of Lincoln Drive and Wissahickon Avenue stranding several vehicles Saturday night, the National Weather Service reported.

It also said “multiple” trees were down in Abington Township, Montgomery County, including one that fallen into a house, and posted numerous reports of hail. A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for the entire region until 11 p.m. Saturday.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center had most of eastern Pennsylvania under a 15% chance of severe storms, defined as those with winds approaching 60 mph. An “isolated tornado will also be possible,” the weather service said.

The agency says that a total of 1 to 3 inches of rain — perhaps more in some places — could descend upon the region’s parched soils through Tuesday.

Showers are possible again Thursday, the first day of the PGA tournament at the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course in Philadelphia.

But while the region may not see the sun again until Wednesday, said Bill Deger, an AccuWeather Inc. senior meteorologist, the outlook does have a bright side, and not just for the drought conditions.

The system affecting the region is without much sense of direction, said Deger, since it is cut off from an upper-air steering flow.

In short, we’re more or less stuck with it.

Mike Gorse, weather service meteorologist in the Mount Holly office, said rounds of heavy rain were likely Sunday afternoon and evening, and again Monday and Tuesday.

Showers are expected to ease up in intensity and frequency after Tuesday. But they are still in play for Wednesday and Thursday, day one of the PGA tournament.

Conditions for the rest of the tournament should improve markedly come Friday, said Deger.

“We definitely need the rain,” said Gorse.

The entire region remains in at least the “abnormally dry” zone in the latest interagency U.S. Drought Monitor map.

In the last 60 days rains generally have been near to slightly above normal throughout the region, according to NOAA’s Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center.

But the region evidently still is recovering from the extreme dryness of the fall.

AccuWeather’s Deger, who lives in Harleysville, Montgomery County, is among those who have noticed the unusual spectacle of bright green grass — nourished by recent rain — poking out of bone-dry soil.

It is reasonably safe to assume it won’t be dry come Wednesday.