Dead Sea road closed due to flooding

Route 90 was closed on Friday morning along the coast of the Dead Sea between Kibbutz Ein Gedi and the Ein Bokek hotel district, due to flooding.

Elsewhere in the country, rain continued to fall in a rare bout of cold, wet weather for the winter of 2014, as Israelis prepared for the holiday of Purim on Sunday.

Heavy snow was predicted on Mount Hermon, as well as flurries in some elevated areas of the north and center. Resident of Efrat, near the Gush Etzion bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem, reported light snow on Friday morning.

On Saturday, the rain is projected to stop and the sun to come out, with mostly partly cloudy skies.

Weather shouldn’t hinder Purim celebrations, which include outdoor parades and pageants throughout the country on Sunday. According to meteorologists, the day should be warm and virtually cloud-free.

The past few days have seen what has only been the second significant spell of inclement weather in an almost unprecedentedly parched winter.

Jerusalem received some 45 millimeters of rain the past two days, while Tel Aviv got a more modest 25.

The Sea of Galilee had risen six centimeters since the beginning of the week, the Israel Water Authority said on Friday.