As Israel kicks off its first official day of the summer in anticipation of its usually scorching hot temperatures, residents were surprised by a freak phenomenon on Wednesday morning as rain began to briefly fall on a number of central and southern cities including Tel Aviv, Holon, Petah Tikva, Kiryat Ono, Ashdod and Sderot.
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Meteorologist Tzachi Waxman of Meteo Tech said that “Ironically, today is the first official day of the summer with light rains falling from the north to the outskirts of the Negev desert.”
Light rain in central Israel during start of summer
(צילום: גלי בריל, סער הס ואיתן אלחדז)
The rain was caused, Waxman explained, by air flowing through Turkey which, “in an unusual way managed to make its way to the east of the sea and cause an imbalance in temperature.”
"This is an exception for this day of the year. This cold air, combined with the warm air in our region, produces more developed clouds which produce cold rain,” he said.
Despite the spits and spots, Waxman said that Israelis can still expect a bright side later on in the day.
“This phenomenon will accompany us in the coming hours, but will fade in the afternoon," he said. The bad news, according to the weather forecaster, is that "such a pleasant day will not come back in the near future."