Partly cloudy weather is expected Sunday, with local, mostly light rain, mainly in northern Israel, and a further drop in temperatures. This follows a stabilization in conditions Saturday after sharp fluctuations the day before, which included a heat wave, a sudden temperature drop, heavy haze and brief rain and hail in the northern Golan Heights and the Be'er Sheva area. Now, both the heat wave and the rain are behind us, and cooler evening temperatures are expected during this week’s Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut.
On Monday, on the eve of Yom Hazikaron, local rain is expected mainly in the north. Temperatures will drop slightly again and remain below the seasonal average. The following day, Yom Hazikaron and the eve of Yom Haatzmaut, will see a slight rise in temperatures, mainly in the hills and inland areas, though they will still be below average. The warming trend is expected to continue into Yom Haatzmaut on Wednesday.
Hail in Be'er Sheva
(Video: Herzl Yosef)
On Yom Haatzmaut eve, temperatures in the hills are expected to range between 12°C and 13°C, while in the lowlands and coastal plain they will be 17°C to 19°C. After Yom Haatzmaut, temperatures will rise, and by next weekend it is expected to be warmer than usual, with temperatures around 30°C across most of the country.
On Saturday, despite lingering haze, about 40,000 visitors toured nature reserves and national parks throughout the country. The Nature and Parks Authority said the most popular sites included Gan Hashlosha (Sachne), the Gamla Nature Reserve, Mount Arbel, Yarkon National Park (Tel Afek), Ashkelon National Park, the Coral Beach Nature Reserve in Eilat, Zin Cliffs and Eshkol National Park (Habsor).
The heavy hail two days ago, with stones reaching several centimeters in diameter, was caused by severe atmospheric instability due to an unusual temperature gap between the warm ground and rapidly cooling upper air during Friday afternoon. Most of the precipitation seen on radar did not reach the ground and evaporated on the way down due to dry and hot lower atmospheric layers — a phenomenon known as “virga.”
The past rainy season was not particularly wet, especially in northern Israel, but it broke several records. The number of haze events this year was unprecedented, with nearly 10 occurrences since early February originating from the south (air masses from the deserts of Libya, Sudan and Egypt), compared to an average of one or two per year.
At the same time, a record number of flood events was recorded in streams in the Dead Sea region — eight flow events this season — along with above-average rainfall totals in the southern Arava. “There is no doubt this was a rainy season with characteristics different from a typical one in our region — relatively more rainfall in the south compared to northern areas,” said Dr. Amir Givati, director of the Israel Meteorological Service.
Forecast temperatures forSunday and Sunday night: Jerusalem 11°C-19°C, Tel Aviv 17°C-21°C, Haifa 17°C-20°C, Safed 12°C-17°C, Katzrin 15°C-21°C, Tiberias 16°C-23°C, Nazareth 15°C-21°C, Afula 16°C-23°C, Beit She’an 17°C-26°C, Lod 16°C-22°C, Ashdod 16°C-22°C, Ein Gedi 20°C-31°C, Beersheba 15°C-24°C, Mitzpe Ramon 14°C-23°C, Eilat 21°C-31°C.