Haze, strong winds and rain: After a pleasant weekend, a new system of active and rainy weather is on the way and is expected to arrive as early as the holiday eve, continuing through the Passover holiday.
Before that, on Sunday, temperatures will drop and local rain is expected across most parts of the country. Winds will strengthen, and haze is possible in southern Israel. On Monday, local rain is forecast in the north and center, with temperatures below the seasonal average. On Tuesday, a slight warming trend is expected.
On Wednesday, the eve of Passover, winds will intensify and peak in the evening, with gusts reaching 80 to 90 km/h, mainly in southern areas and the mountains. These southerly winds will bring haze, with dust storms expected in the Negev. The haze is set to arrive at a particularly inconvenient time — on the eve of Passover — and could disrupt holiday preparations and cleaning.
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The haze will arrive just before Passover, and could disrupt holiday preparations
(Photo: Oded Balilty/AP)
Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, rain will join the system, falling across the entire country, from Eilat in the south to the northern border. The rainfall will continue into Thursday, focusing in southern Israel, with a real risk of flooding and disruptions to transportation in many areas.
The Israel Meteorological Service said the unstable weather expected during the holiday is the result of a large and unseasonal storm affecting wide areas of the central Mediterranean, between Italy and Greece.
The storm is expected to take on characteristics of a “medicane” — a Mediterranean “mini-hurricane” — accompanied by winds of up to 140 km/h and heavy rainfall over the Greek islands. Israel will be affected by the storm’s warm sector, bringing strong southerly winds, haze and flooding in the south on Thursday.
Forecast temperatures for Sunday and Sunday night: Jerusalem 9°C–15°C, Tel Aviv 15°C–19°C, Haifa 1°C6–19°C, Safed 9°C–14°C, Katzrin 12°C–17°C, Tiberias 13°C–18°C, Nazareth 13°C–17°C, Afula 12°C–19°C, Beit She’an 14°C–20°C, Lod 14°C–19°C, Ashdod 15°C–19°C, Ein Gedi 16°C–23°C, Beersheba 13°C–19°C, Mitzpe Ramon 10°C–18°C, Eilat 19°C–27°C.