Heavy hail hits Krayot area
Golf ball-sized hailstones plummet down cities in Haifa bay area, causing damage to cars, roofs and shutters; rain expected from north to Negev area, accompanied by thunderstorms.
Residents of the Krayot region, near the Haifa bay, were woken at 6 am on Monday by a heavy hailstorm that hit the area, as the large ice crystals caused damage to cars, tin roofs and shutters.
Shiran Ohayon (24) from Kiryat Motzkin said: "We were startled awake when we heard heavy knocking sounds outside. It was scary, and the scariest was how it just it just got stronger. We heard something huge falling from the sky like stones about to break the window. It's unbelievable that the weather went crazy like that."
Fire Departments in Haifa and the Krayot reported that damage was caused to property, including vehicles, which suffered the heaviest damages. In addition, a solar water heater fell from the roof of an eight-story building and hit a car. Another vehicle in Haifa was damaged by a falling tree.
"In some cases, damage was caused to roofs of cars and in others to windows," said the Spokesman of Hof District Fire and Rescue authority, Reshef Uri Chobotaro. In Kiryat Bialik, a tree collapsed but no injuries or damages were reported.
Northern residents reported that the giant hailstones had reached the size of ping-pong balls. "We woke up at around 6 am by a loud noise," said Yair Geva from Kiryat Motzkin. "It was amazing to see the size of the hailstones. They caused damage to the street. One of the trees collapsed on a building, and damage was caused to planters on the porch."
"I've been living in the Krayot my entire life and this if the first time I've seen hailstones this size," Yair added. "What is also interesting is that the temperature remained high, at about 21 degrees."
According to the Meteo-Tech company, the winter weather kicked in on Monday with rainfall from north to south, and a significant drop in temperature. Meto-Tech reported that the rain will be accompanied by thunderstorms and will spread from the north to the northern Negev.
