Weather Forecast: The winter system reached a peak last night with impressive amounts of precipitation and for the first time this season it also snowed in the northern Golan Heights. Tonight (Wednesday to Thursday) the temperatures will be lower than usual and there is a fear of cold in places and frost on the roads.
El Rom children enjoy the snow. Photo: Shai Yehezkel
Later in the day there will be a rise in temperatures, but it will still be colder than usual. At night there is a fear of an accident in the designated areas and in the early morning strong easterly winds will blow in the northern cities. The temperature in Tel Aviv and Beer Sheva will reach 15 degrees, in Jerusalem – 10, in Haifa – 13, in Tiberias – 16, in Safed – 8, in Mitzpe Ramon – 11 and in Eilat – 20.
On Friday it will be fine to partly cloudy, there will be another slight rise in temperatures and a drop in humidity, in the north of the country strong easterly winds will blow. It will be cold at night. Also on Saturday, strong east winds will continue to blow in the northern mountains.
First snow of the season in Merom Golan. Photo: Golan Regional Council spokeswoman
At the Hermon site, it continued to snow intermittently. On the upper level it accumulated to a height of about 70 cm and on the lower level the snow reached about 40 cm. However, those who expected to spend time on the snowy site, will have to look at the pictures, since in the meantime the site is closed due to the closure and closure of the attraction sites.
“We hope that at the end of the closure days we will receive from the Ministry of Health an opening permit under a detailed outline that we prepared in advance along with any guidance required. Snow without visitors is not snow,” noted Hermon site CEO Rafael Naveh.
Mickey Inbar from the Hermon site updates on the snow condition. Photo: Hermon site
This rainy season revolutionized the amount of rainfall, bringing some of the areas in the north and center of the country to receive almost all of the January rains after a prolonged rainstorm. In relation to the perennial average, up to this time, 100-120% were recorded at most stations from the north to the southern lowlands.
Adequate amounts of precipitation were recorded in the Rosh Hanikra area – about 30 mm and in the Golan Heights – about 20 mm. In Tel Aviv, about 7.7 mm fell and in Jerusalem no precipitation was measured. Extremely high amounts of precipitation for two consecutive days were recorded in the Haifa and Carmel area, with a cumulative amount of about 67 mm.
Floods in Nesher. Photo: Fire and Rescue Spokeswoman
Four firefighters and rescue teams from Jerusalem, assisted by the Special Rescue Unit, were rushed to Nahal Sorek-Emek Ha’arazim this afternoon. The trapped were rescued unharmed.
“Streams and waterways should not be crossed, especially while it is raining and the streams are overflowing,” the fire and rescue services warned. Meanwhile, before noon, the police were forced to close Road 234 at the Tselim Bridge to vehicular traffic, due to flooding on the road. Drivers were directed to alternate routes.
Rain in Tel Aviv (Photo: Avshalom Shashoni)
The heavy rainfall of recent days has created strong currents in streams and waterfalls. An inspection conducted at Maayan Hadan revealed that it was abundant from the last precipitation and that the snowfall on Mount Hermon and the impact of the water reached 7.5 cubic meters per second. At the beginning of January, the position reached 6.366 cubic meters per second.
The director of the Dan factories, Yadin Cohen, noted that the minimum impact was measured in November 2018, during five years of drought and it was then only 2 cubic meters per second. The maximum impact measured was 11.5 cubic meters per second, decades ago.
The flow in the Jordan River. Photo: Amit Dolev, Nature and Parks Authority
Towards noon, the rain stopped a bit in the Sea of Galilee area and the fishermen of Ein Gev went fishing in a storm on the Lebanese coast. The Kinneret Cities Association noted that the Sea of Galilee rose another six cm yesterday and that the upper red line is already less than a meter short – 0.995 cm. Preparations have recently begun for the possibility of opening the Degania Dam, when work was carried out to build earthworks in the vicinity of agricultural land in the Menahemia colony.
Meanwhile, against the background of the stormy weather, a 39-year-old brown sea turtle was found on the beach in Ashdod in the morning.
Rain in the Banias Reserve this morning. Photo: Ofer Shinar, Nature and Parks Authority
The cumulative amounts of rain in the last rain episode – from January 14 to 20:
Elrom North Golan 226 mm
Bridge south of the Golan Heights 113 mm
Front deer 125 mm
Kibbutz Shamir 148 mm
Kibbutz Ginosar 99 mm
Safed 141 mm
Degrees 223 mm
Haifa 110 mm
Nahalal 106 mm
Netanya 123 mm
Kfar Saba 103 mm
Zichron Yaacov 108 mm
Rishon Lezion 67 mm
Bat Yam 68 mm
Kibbutz Revadim 123 mm
Moshav Eshtaol 132 mm
Jerusalem Ein Kerem 145 mm
Ashkelon 103 mm
Beer Sheva 38 mm
Arad 26 mm