With its warm Mediterranean climate, Israel rarely gets any rain in summer. However, researchers examining precipitation patterns in Israel over the last century or so say that in the future, the country will experience rainfall in July and August.
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An analysis of rainy days in the country going back as far as 1860 indicates that Israel's rainy season has gradually shifted to both start and end later on in the year. If at one point in time, the rainy season ended in March, it now ends in April and May. This year, the rainy season continued until June, leading researchers to conclude that in the future, it will continue into the summer months.
The research was carried out within the framework of the first-ever hackathon hosted by BI-Elad Data.
In a conversation with Israel Hayom, the researchers said: "From the analysis of Israel Meteorological Service data and documentation of rainy days from 1860 to the present, once can see a clear trend of a delay in the first rainy day, from the 222nd day of the Gregorian Calendar in the first year when measurements were taken [1860] to the 269th day of the current year. The last day of rain has also changed, from the 127th day to the 205th day of the year.
"It turns out that climate in Israel is moving and changing, with the warmer months coming later, around September, and both the starting and end points of the rainy days changing throughout the year.
"This is likely part of a global shift connected to the phenomenon of global warming," they hypothesized.
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