Flooding, Winds Pound Israel as Weather Disrupts Daily Life
by Zach Pontz
Uncharacteristically fierce weather continued to pound Israel Monday, causing injuries and damage to infrastructure. Most of the damage was being caused by high winds, but flooding was also a major problem.
Rainfall from Friday night through noon on Sunday had already amounted to between 2.5 and 4 inches in the central Coastal Plain, 1.5 to 2.5 inches in the Galilee and roughly an inch in the Jerusalem region, Dr. Amos Porat, director of the Climate Department at the Israel Meteorological Service, told The Jerusalem Post.
The below above of an Aroma cafe in Modiin, south of Tel Aviv, illustrates the disruptive nature of the weather Israel is currently experiencing.
Here’s video of the same shopping mall in which the Aroma Cafe is located:
The weather was so bad it even prompted a live blog by the Times of Israel. The Israel Meteorological Service is predicting that this week could bring precipitation equal to the average rainfall for the entire month of January. The storm is expected to continue through the week, with flood warnings and warnings of sand storms in the south on Tuesday. Snowfall is predicted for higher altitudes, including possibly in Jerusalem. Rain, hail and snow is set to accompany a sharp drop in temperatures on Wednesday, but by Thursday the storm is expected to weaken.