Israel welcomes spring with a bit of rain
Spring comes upon Israel with beautiful bloom accompanied by a bit of rain; Meteo-Tech meteorological company says rainy season in Israel still not over.
Despite the hopes of instant spring weather, the Meteo-Tech meteorological company said on Saturday that it was too soon to declare the end of the rainy season in Israel, as rains could still continue into April.
"Generally, you could say that in central and southern Israel, the amount of rain that fell so far has surpassed the multi-annual amounts in most of the stations, but in the north there is still a shortage in precipitation compared to the multi-annual average," weatherman Shlomo Uberman said, adding that northern Israel has yet to see the last of the rain.
In Kiryat Shmona, 471 mm of rain fell during the winter, compared to a multi-annual average of 500 mm. In Kidmat Tzvi, 460 mm of rain fell compared to the multi-annual average of 471 mm. Ginosar saw 332 mm of rain compared to the 447 mm average, 628 mm in Safed compared to the 718 mm average, 532 mm in Haifa compared to the 550 mm average, 666 mm fell in Netanya compared to the 570 mm average and in Kfar Saba, 509 mm of rain fell compared to the 565 mm average.
So far, 406 mm of rain fell in Tel Aviv compared to the 460 mm average, Bat Yam experienced 570 mm of rain compared to the 534 mm average, 493 mm fell in Ashdod compared to the 520 mm multi-year average, 663 mm fell in Jerusalem compared to the 614 mm average, Lachish saw 475 mm of rain compared to the 409 mm average, 213 mm fell in Be'er Sheva compared to the 205 mm average, 219 mm fell in Arad compared to the 131 mm multi-year average.
According to the Water Authority, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) rose only 76 cm and 88 cm from the annual low point, compared to 140 cm in an average year which was on November 15, 2014.
"It's important to note that Israel's water reserves are in recovery after the extreme drought last year," the Water Authority said. "The situation of water sources has begun to improve, but we are still far from the desirable state of Israel's water sources. This year, despite several rainy months, we have yet to reach even the accumulative average, and the water sources still need a lot more water. At the same time, we must prepare for the droughts to come in our area."
A relatively small amount of Israelis went hiking on Saturday morning due to the cloudy and cold weather.
However, two major events in northern Israel were able to draw over a 1,000 people - the Upper Galilee Race, in which 400 runners participated,
and the "Flowing to the Jordan River" march from the south to the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) which calls to implement the plan to rehabilitate the southern part of the river. Over 700 people participated in the march.
In addition, some 15,000 people participated in the second day of the 49th Gilboa March, including delegations from all over the world. The marchers reached the Well of Harod and participated in one of three treks - a 6 km family trek, a 12 km trek and a 20 km trek.
