Israel Matzav

It's raining, it's pouring

This has been the weirdest winter.

In December, we had three consecutive snowstorms on a Thursday morning, a Thursday night and a Friday night - all one right after the other.

Then we had two months of warm, dry weather - most of January and February it was in the 70's here during the day.

And now, winter is back with a vengeance. Strong winds and rains, and temperatures back to the mid-40's around the clock. What is going on here?

The rains began to pour across the country on Saturday, after two months of winter that has been some of the driest in history, in many places. Both the heavy rainfall and cold air this week are the result of mid-latitude depressions from the central Mediterranean Sea, explained Dr. Amos Porat, head of the Israel Meteorological Services climatology department. While such conditions are relatively “normal” during winter times in this region, Israel has not experienced such conditions this year since mid-December, he said.

Overall this week, many areas received large amounts of rainfall, with some accumulating more than 100 millimeters of water, Porat said. Among weather stations to receive the largest amounts of rain from Saturday through Thursday afternoon were those at Gamla and Rosh Zurim, with 102 and 104 millimeters respectively, according to IMS data. Due to the dry conditions the rest of the season thus far, these two areas have only received 55 percent and 73% of their annual seasonal averages thus far, the data said.

Haifa received 28 millimeters this week and 276 millimeters total since September, representing 51% of the city's annual seasonal average. About 71 millimeters accumulated in Tel Aviv this week out of a total 367 millimeters this season, which amounts to 63% of the city's annual seasonal average. Meanwhile, Jerusalem received 80 millimeters of rain this week and 374 millimeters total since September, which is 70% of the annual seasonal average.

The only areas to come close to or exceed their annual seasonal averages thus far are selected areas in the South – with Negba accumulating 99% of its average, Beersheba 99% and Eilat 118%, according to the IMS data. Negba received 71 millimeters this week, Beersheba 48 millimeters and Eilat 11 millimeters.

As of Thursday morning, the water level of Lake Kinneret was 211.07 meters below sea level, the Water Authority said.

We're expecting rain tonight, tomorrow and Monday. It's a good thing it's a leap year. Last year, Passover was March 25.

Labels: rainfall

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:43 PM