A water pillar extending from the sky to the sea over Tel Aviv on Monday.
Photo: Hagar Mashosh
Rare waterspout spotted over Tel Aviv
Residents of the coastal city woke up to rare sight; 'it looked like a mini-hurricane,' says onlooker.
After hail
was spotted in southern Israel Monday morning, Tel Avivians woke up to a sight they are probably not accustomed to – a waterspout extending from the stormy sky all the way down to the waters of the Mediterranean sea was visible to the naked eye.
"It looked like a mini-hurricane over the ocean," said Moshe Asaraf, a resident of Yaffa and drummer of Israeli music group Hadag Nachash.
A water pillar descends from the sky to the ocean in Tel Aviv monday. (Photo: Tzachi Fridman)
"It was a spectacular sight. People stopped everything and looked up at the sky. I never saw something like it in my life," described Asaraf.
The waterspout that some onlookers confused with a tornado is a phenomenon that can occur during transitional seasons, such as fall and the beginning of winter.
צילום: ניר ארז בית ספר ליאכטות '' סיילור'' יפו,שי בליק
"It occurs due to the temperatures of the Mediterranean sea, which stand at 25 degrees Celsius during this season. In contrast, cold wind gusts originating from Europe can occasionally penetrate the upper layers of the atmosphere. The difference in temperature between them and the Mediterranean causes strong vertical cloud currents," explained Meteo-Tech's Meteorologist Tzachi Vekesman.
According to Vekesman, a strong suction effect can occasionally occur that is strong enough to create a waterspout that has strong turbulence throughout: "Although the phenomenon has a similar appearance to a tornado, the waterspout only occurs over the sea, and when it reaches land, the water vacuumed in from the ocean towards the cloud, are thrust toward the land and the pillar dissipates."
The view of a water pillar, a rare weather occurance, over Tel Aviv on Monday. (Photo: Hila Bablinsky)
He added that the whole process last mere moments and can occur at any place in the eastern parts of the Mediterranean that are under stormy clouds and have drastic rising and falling currents.
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.
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.
Michal Margalit contributed to this report.
