The first rainfall of the Jewish year 5786 arrived two days after Rosh Hashanah. Overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, scattered showers began and gradually intensified. Temperatures have dropped during the day, falling below seasonal averages, with rain expected mainly in northern and central Israel as winds picked up in the mountains. Rain is forecast to taper off and stop by evening, with partly cloudy skies overnight.
“This can definitely be defined as the yoreh—the first rain of the season—even if it isn’t felt in every part of the country,” said Dr. Amir Givati, head of the Israel Meteorological Service, using the biblical term given to the first autumn rainfall and traditionally used in Hebrew.
Rain falls in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan
(Video: Dvir Reshef, Limor Agassi)
By midmorning Thursday, the service reported a historic September rainfall record had been broken. The previous record was 95.7 millimeters (3.7 inches), measured on Sept. 12, 1932, in the Gush Etzion region. By Thursday, more than 100 millimeters (4 inches) had already fallen in Nahariya, most of it within just 90 minutes.
At 9:30 a.m., meteorologists reported “extreme rainfall” in the Western Galilee, from Nahariya to Acre and Shfaram. Nahariya recorded 97 millimeters (3.8 inches) by that hour, with heavy showers causing flooding and traffic disruptions across the region. The city urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel, while municipal crews worked to restore road access.
By 11:40 a.m., updated figures showed: 125.4 millimeters in Shavei Tzion, 117.4 millimeters in Nahariya, 83.1 millimeters in Acre, and 56.5 millimeters in Kiryat Bialik. Light showers also reached central Israel, including Tel Aviv.
For comparison, Nahariya’s average September rainfall is only 1.2 millimeters. October averages 35 millimeters, and November 90. Nearby Kibbutz Regba recorded 58 millimeters Thursday morning, including 30 millimeters in just half an hour. Acre had 39.4 millimeters, Harashim 20.3 millimeters, and Haifa University 13.5 millimeters.
Haifa municipality reported that runoff from the city’s drainage system had reached the beaches, a common phenomenon during the season’s first rains. Swimming was banned until further notice. The Interior Ministry extended the ban to beaches in Haifa, Acre, Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Haim, Hof HaCarmel, and Jisr al-Zarqa, following Health Ministry warnings about possible pollution from runoff. Officials stressed that swimming is allowed only at supervised beaches.
3 View gallery
Map of accumulated precipitation amounts (in mm) from Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon
(Photo: Israel Meteorological Service)
Forecast:
Friday: Slight rise in temperatures, returning to seasonal norms. Partly cloudy.
Saturday: Another slight increase in the hills and inland, with heat stress in the eastern valleys. Partly cloudy to mostly clear.
Sunday: Continued warming in the hills and inland, with heavier heat stress. Mostly sunny.
Forecasted temperatures (low–high, °C):
Jerusalem 18–25, Tel Aviv 25–28, Haifa 20–26, Safed 17–24, Katzrin 19–29, Tiberias 22–29, Nazareth 21–26, Afula 21–29, Beit She’an 23–31, Lod 22–29, Ashdod 26–28, Ein Gedi 23–32, Beersheba 21–28, Mitzpe Ramon 16–24, Eilat 22–33.