The stormy winter weather continued to slam Israel on Wednesday with rain, snow and wind gusts, causing injuries and power outages across the region.
A 7-year-old girl was lightly injured by a tree that fell in Bnei Brak while injuries from fallen trees and light posts were reported in Ramat Gan, Afula, and Tiberius. Furthermore, several areas of Tel Aviv, Holon, Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak were cut off from power. Meanwhile, snow in the northern part of Israel spread to Meron, Beit Jann, and the Druze town of Hurfeish.
Snow began to pile up in the upper Galilee and the northern Golan Heights on Wednesday afternoon, after heavy haze had overswept the country. Roads closed in the north as snow began to reach a couple centimeters high.
The Hermon Ski Resort was shut down Wednesday as a snow storm overtook the site. Meanwhile, snowfall also reached the mystic city of Safed but did not begin to stick to the ground.
In the rest of the country, winter weather was also at its height with rain coming down from the border with the northern region of Israel up until the southern city of Be'er Sheva.
Snow hit mountains 1,000 meters above sea level in the northern Golan Heights and in the Merom Golan Kibbutz in the Golan Heights schools were shut down and children were sent back home.
It was unclear on Wednesday if schools in the northern Golan Heights would be open Thursday – an announcement was scheduled for Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
Efrat, a resident of Safed who works in Carmiel, said, "The fear is that we will get stuck outside the city, so we turned to our boss and asked that he release us early so that we would be able to make it before roads close."
Strong winds shook central Israel and caused trees and stands to fall.
In Ramat Gan, a tree fell on a car that was being driven by a driving teacher and his 17-year-old student. The two were unharmed by the event and fire fighters arrived at the scene to help clear the tree that had fallen.
Trees fell onto vehicles in Petah Tikva and Tiberius as well, causing no injury.
Disruptions are expected on domestic flights due to the extreme weather. The Airport Authority spokesman said: "Landings will not be approved at Sde Dov airport until tomorrow. We call on the public that is scheduled to fly to turn to airline companies Israir and Arkia to get information on their flights."