The Israel Meteorological Service issued an early warning about the possibility of increasingly stormy weather. Toward the middle of the week, the region is likely to experience significantly wintry weather, including rain, floods, low temperatures, strong winds and snows on mountaintops, the IMS said.
Models obtained by the IMS forecasting center indicated that on Tuesday, strong winds and large amounts of precipitation are expected in northern Israel. Snow will likely begin in the high peaks of the Galilee and the Golan Heights, , already reaching the lower peaks of the Upper Galilee by evening – including Safed and other towns in the region, the IMS said. The Mediterranean Sea is expected to rise significantly on Tuesday, with waves reaching a high of about 4 meters.
On Wednesday, storm weather will likely worsen, with snow powdering mountain peaks and piling up on the ground in the Center of the country, including in Jerusalem, the IMS reported. Waves are also expected to remain high that day.
By Thursday, the models predicted predominantly rainy conditions, accompanied by continued snow on mountains. Israelis will also feel intense cold around the country, the IMS added.
The January wintry weather follows a December “marked by a lack of rain and hotter than average,” according to information compiled by the IMS climate department head, Dr. Amos Porat. While the dryness was not record-breaking, the rain amounts in December were significantly smaller than yearly averages for the month, and the driest on a national level since 1993, the information said.
“Thanks to the rainy November, the rain amounts since the beginning of the season are average for the same period on the Coastal Plain and the hills of the Center,” Porat wrote. “In other areas cumulative rainfall quantities are close to the average or slightly below it.”
