An extraordinarily intense rain system has swept across Israel in recent hours, causing widespread flooding and road closures throughout the country. At the height of the weather event, the coastal city of Ashdod recorded 5.04 inches of rain per hour, with an astounding 1.97 inches falling in just 30 minutes – a volume typically seen spread across one to two full days of rainfall.

Video: Heavy rainfall in Ashdod / Credit: Free usage under Israeli copyright law (Section 27A)

The Nahal David stream has overflowed, flooding Route 90 and forcing police to close the main artery between Dragot Cliffs Junction and Ein Gedi Junction in both directions. On Route 6 northbound, one of three lanes was blocked past Horashim due to flooding, while Route 1 saw one lane closure between Ben-Gurion International Airport interchange and eastward. The Sea of Galilee's water level has risen by 0.39 inches in the past day.

Video: The Qumran stream / Credit: Dan Farkash, Nature and Parks Authority

The Ashdod Municipality's Winter Command Center tracked a series of powerful rain waves that descended upon the city from the early morning hours. The first major wave struck at 3:50 a.m., dumping 1.85 inches of rain across various districts, followed by a massive cloud formation at 6:20 a.m. that brought peak precipitation levels. The resulting floods forced the closure of ten major traffic routes throughout the city, though emergency services have managed to restore access to half of these arteries.

Weather forecasts indicate partly to mostly cloudy conditions will persist throughout Tuesday, with intermittent rainfall from the north to the Negev accompanied by isolated thunderstorms. Minor flood risks remain along the coastal plain until noon, with slight concerns for flash floods in the Judean Desert and Dead Sea wadis. The Mediterranean Sea remains dangerous for swimming with waves reaching heights of 4.6 to 9.2 feet and water temperatures at 68°F, while the Sea of Galilee reports moderate conditions with waves of 1 to 2 feet and water temperatures at 66.2°F.

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The Alfis winter storm system made its way to Israel in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and is expected to high winds and heavy rain to most of the country, starting in the north and spreading to the coastal areas.

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Overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, Mount Hermon and the northern Golan Heights saw another round of snowfall, with accumulation of some 20 cm (eight inches) by mid-morning Wednesday. Hilly regions of the Galilee and central Israel, including Jerusalem, at altitudes of 700 meters (2,200 feet) and higher were also expected to receive snow later Wednesday.

Video: Golan Heights Regional Council

Meteo-Tech Meteorological Services forecast that Jerusalem could see accumulation of 10-20 cm (four to eight inches) of snow; while Golan communities at the 1,000-meter (3,300-foot) altitude and higher could see 40-50 cm (16-20 inches) of snow on the ground.

Heavy rain, thunderstorms, and hail heavy enough to cause flooding were expected in the lower-lying coast, coastal plain, and rural ravines starting Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile, haze and sandstorms were affecting air quality in the Negev.

The precipitation was forecast to bring with it unusually cold temperatures.

In preparation for the winter storm conditions, the Israel Police decided to close down several highways on the Golan Heights, and informed the public that more routes might be closed later in the day. The Transportation Ministry has warned that the storm might affect public transportation.

The Jerusalem Municipality has set up a special situation room to handle the needs of residents during the storm.  The school day in Safed ended early on Wednesday, while schools on the Golan Heights were also preparing to close.

Farther to the south, the Har Hebron Regional Council was also making preparations for snow. The Israel Electric Corporation has set up generators in areas of the Hebron Hills where power outages were expected. The council has also called in trucks and snowplows  from Netivei Israel- National Transport Infrastructure Company and the IDF to "handle" the snow.

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Several neighborhoods in Jerusalem saw their first snowfall of the winter last Wednesday night.

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Fearing ice formation on roads and sidewalks, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon issued a directive that classes in the capital would begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday in all educational frameworks and that public transportation would start running one hour later than usual.

Video: Yoni Rykner

Snow also fell in the northern city of Safed and other peaks in the northern mountains and also on Har Bracha in Samaria. Safed Mayor Shuki Ohana called on residents to stay indoors.

Meanwhile, due to the unusually cold weather, the all-time winter power consumption record was broken, as 14,735 megawatts were consumed simultaneously on Wednesday. Hundreds of power outages have been reported across the country, and train disruptions have also been reported.

In the northern Golan Heights, schools were closed on Thursday.

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More snow was expected in Israel throughout the day, including in Judea and Samaria, and Jerusalem, and possibly in the higher elevations in the Negev. 

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The Mount Hermon ski resort reported that the snow level rose by 30 centimeters (11 inches) and the temperature in the morning stood at 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit.) Heavy snow is expected in the region for the next two days. 

Meanwhile, firefighters in Haifa helped rescue a man who got trapped in his vehicle after it flipped on its side. He was taken to the hospital and was reported to be in mild condition. 

Another man, in his eighties, was moderately injured after being hit by a tree branch that fell due to strong winds. He was taken to the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center with a broken leg and a head injury. 

The Israel Police blocked the entrance to several highways due to the stormy weather. 

The Sea of Galilee has risen by 1.5 centimeters (1 inch) in the last two days. As of Wednesday morning, it stands at 209.56 meters (670 feet) below sea level, the Water Authority reported. 

The stormy weather is expected to calm on Thursday, however, it will continue to rain intermittently. There is a slight chance of snow on Thursday morning in the northern and central mountains. 

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A day after the heaviest rainfall seen in coastal Israel in over a quarter century caused massive flooding and damage, the forecast called for more floods in the Jordan Valley, the Judean Desert, and Dead Sea areas on Friday.

Light rainfall was forecast for the coast throughout Friday night.

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Scattered showers were forecast for northern and central Israel on Saturday, too.

Thursday saw especially heavy rainfall in Tel Aviv and Hod Hasharon, the Ashdod-Ashkelon area, and Nahariya and the western Galilee. All of these areas saw over 100 millimeters (nearly 4 inches) of rain.

This November has seen considerably more rainfall than average, and for coastal Israel, it has been the rainiest November since 1994.

Some areas of Israel's coast have already seen over 40% of their average annual rainfall.

In related news, the Sea of Galilee is rising and as of Friday morning was up by 1.5 centimeters (0.59 inches), putting its upper level at 209.94 meters (688.7 feet) below sea level.

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A total of 34,102 coronavirus tests carried out in the 24-hour period from Thursday to Friday morning have identified 560 new cases, the Health Ministry reported Friday morning.

Meanwhile, the number of active or symptomatic COVID cases in Israel continues to drop, and stood at 8,958.

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The vast majority of the symptomatic cases – 8,123 – were being treated at home, with 286 patients in coronavirus hotel facilities and 549 in hospitals nationwide. Of the hospitalized patients, 327 were listed in serious condition, including 147 who were on ventilators.

The death toll since the start of the pandemic was unchanged on Friday morning, standing at 2,639.

A total 318,111 Israelis have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic, and 306,514 have recovered from it.

On Friday morning, 600 medical workers were in quarantine: 85 doctors, 166 nurses, and 349 members of other medical professions.

Elsewhere, the World Health Organization in Europe warned Thursday that Europe was on the precipice of an explosion of coronavirus cases and that the continent should expect a sharp rise in the mortality rate.

"We do see an explosion... in the sense, it only takes a couple of days to have over the European region an increase of one million cases," WHO's regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said.

Kluge said that the mortality rate is rising "little by little," speculating that Europe will have a "tough time" with the disease as it heads into winter.

"It's going to be a little bit of a tough time, we need to be honest on that," he said.

In spite of the rapidly rising cases, Kluge cautioned that closing schools should be seen as a last resort, especially in light of there being "no reasons to say that schools are a main driver of the transmission."

"We need to keep the schools open really until last because we cannot afford a Covid-19 lost generation," Kluge said.

However, the regional director also said that the "status quo is not an option" and called for "proportionate targeted measures," which could be scaled up.

Kluge stressed that governments should take into account two things: "coherence, so people see that we don't flip-flop, and... predictability, so people know if this threshold is being reached, this is what is going to happen."

He also called for the widespread use of face masks.

Part of this article was first published by i24NEWS. 

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The man was swept up in a flood in the Ga'aton Creek near the city as he was trying to rescue family members and other residents who had gotten caught in a flood that resulted from torrential rains earlier Wednesday.

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Firefighters and rescue workers spent two hours searching for the man.

Magen David Adom paramedic Eran Friedlander said, "We got to the beach near the marina, with the ambulance. About 100 meters north of the mouth of the Ga'aton Creek, at the edge of the war, we saw a man who was unconscious without a pulse and wasn't breathing. It was a really stormy day and huge amounts of water were flowing around us."

Paramedics attempted to resuscitate him, to no avail.

Also in Nahariya Wednesday, firefighters rescued 15 children who were trapped in a flooded kindergarten.

To the northwest, schools on the northern Golan Heights were closed due to heavy snowfall.

A car is pulled out of floodwaters in Nahariya

Video: Hadshot Bazman

In Haifa, a woman in labor whose vehicle was stuck on a flooded road was rescued and taken safely to local hospital.

Paramedics Oded Golan and Eliad Deutsch, senior MDA personnel who were scrambled to the scene, said, "We were called to the scene of a car where there was a woman about 30 years old whose water had broken on her way to the hospital … She had been stuck in a traffic jam for about an hour."

The paramedics said they had been called out in an all-terrain vehicle and were able to reach the woman quickly and take her to the maternity ward at Rambam Medical Center.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority put out a special message on Tuesday stressing that until Saturday evening, there was a risk of flash floods in the Judean Desert and southern Israel, as well as local flooding and strong winds. To that effect, the INPA said, hikers were ordered to avoid creek beds and ravines until the water level dropped.

"Stay away from the edge of ravines during floods, lest the cliff collapse," the message read.

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On Friday morning, search and rescue teams located the body of a teen who was swept away in Yarka Creek on Thursday.

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Omri Abu-Najab, 14, had reportedly tried to cross the swollen creek in an all-terrain vehicle. A 23-year-old man who was with him managed to fight his way out of the rushing water.

Video: Hof District Search and Rescue Services

Video: Search and rescue workers look for Omri Abu-Najab on Thursday

On Thursday, a man who was swept away in Tzalmon Creek and was found in critical condition was pronounced dead at Rebecca Sieff Hospital in Safed.

According to the man's relatives, he had gone out to shut the gate to the family's goat pen. When he failed to return, the family notified the police, who began searches and eventually found him by the creek.

The rain this week brought the heaviest single-day rainfall in northern Israel since records have been kept. As of Thursday evening, the Sea of Galilee had risen 8.5 cm (3.3 inches), mostly as a result of a downpour that dropped some 65 mm (2.5 inches) of rain.

The northern Golan Heights saw 150 mm (5.9 inches) of rain, which increased the water levels and flow in the Jordan River and in the creeks on the Golan Heights.

Which region got the most rain? As of Thursday evening, it was the western Galilee, which was drenched with nearly 200 mm (7.87 inches) of rain. Swells were reported in the Hilazon and Beit Ha'emek creeks.

The Sharon region, northeast of Tel Aviv, saw over 100 mm (3.9 inches) of rain, which caused the Hadera and Alexander creeks to swell.

According to the Israel Meteorological Service, the current storm, which started on Dec. 25, has dropped the most rain ever seen in northern Israel in a single day.

"The heavy rain that fell in northern Israel wiped out the deficit that had existed," said meteorologist Lior Sudri of the company Meteo-Tech.

"Before the storm started, the total rainfall had been about half the average for this time of year. Now the amount of rain is close to the average, and has even surpassed it in some places," Sudari said.

Snowfall was reported on Mount Hermon, with accumulation of 7.9 inches on the lower slopes and 15.7 inches on the upper. The Mount Hermon ski facilities were shut due to the storm.

Elsewhere on Thursday, a commercial vessel that was supposed to dock at the Ashdod Port was driven off course by the storm and went aground on the beach south of the port. No injuries were reported.

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With approximately eight inches of snow already on the ground and accumulation set to continue throughout the day, the Hermon ski resort management closed the site to visitors. Snowfall was also reported in towns in the Golan Heights.

Unseasonable rainstorms drenched the country from north to south, as vacationers tried to find ways to enjoy the Passover holiday indoors. Many parks which were opened for free to hikers and visitors for the holiday were closed, including the Ein Gedi nature reserve. Outdoor events around the country were canceled or rescheduled for later in the week.

While some local scattered showers were forecast for Monday morning, the day scheduled for the traditional Priestly Blessing ceremony at the Western Wall plaza, temperatures are expected to rise and rains to dry up throughout the week, according to the Israel Meteorological Service.

Massive rainfalls this year broke a five-year drought. Measurements at the Sea of Galilee showed over triple last year's rainfall.

The Sea of Galilee, Israel's primary natural water source, rose from just 16 inches away from the black line – the point past which the lake becomes ecologically imbalanced – to 11.25 feet from the black line as of April 20.

It is now 8.75 feet from its upper limit, after which point it would flood its banks.

This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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