First drizzle of rainy season felt over Tel Aviv

Scattered showers predicted nationwide; hiking trails closed in desert regions due to flash flood warning

By ToI Staff 7 October 2015, 4:38 am

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Israelis hold umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain as they walk on Jaffa Street, downtown Jerusalem, October 31, 2014. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The first rain of the new year fell overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday in Tel Aviv and a few scattered areas in the north of the country.

The first rain to break the summer dry season has been denoted since Biblical times with a special name — yoreh. It comes around the Sukkot holiday, which ended earlier this week.

While the light drizzle won’t net more than a few millimeters in a handful of areas, it marks the start of what forecasters say will be an abrupt seasonal shift, with scattered showers nationwide through Friday.

After an unseasonably hot start to October, temperatures began to fall Tuesday and were expected to stay low through the end of the week, and on-and-off rain showers were likely to drench the north and center until the start of the weekend.

A flash flood warning is in effect in the Dead Sea region and Judean desert. Hiking trails in the area were closed off to hikers.

The weather forecast Tuesday saw temperatures in Tel Aviv hover between 21°-28° (69°-82°F) in Jerusalem 16°-25° (60°-77°F), in Beersheba 20°-29° (68°-84°F), and Haifa 21°-28° (69°-82°F).