Snow begins to pile up in capital

Heavy snow began falling in Jerusalem overnight, changing over from frozen rain late Thursday to begin accumulating in the capital.

The Jerusalem Municipality asked residents not to use the roads during the storm.

The main roads to and from Jerusalem were intermittently closed to traffic Thursday evening, as a winter storm gathered pace, leading to dangerous driving conditions.

Several roads in the Gush Etzion bloc near Jerusalem were closed off earlier in the evening.

The capital is expected to be blanketed by up to 40 centimeters of snow overnight Thursday, according to the latest forecasts.

Rescue personnel in Jerusalem pitched in to help a bride and groom make their way home from their wedding.

DRAMATIC PHOTOS: Zaka volunteers transporting a Bride & Groom from their wedding in the heavy snowstorm in Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/NyjMAJFfWO

— Israel News Feed (@IsraelHatzolah) February 19, 2015

Schools in and around Jerusalem, including Givat Zeev, Ma’ale Adumim, Kiryat Arba, Beit El and Kiryat Yearim, and in some cities in the Golan Heights were expected to remain closed Friday, the Education Ministry announced.

In northern Israel, schools in Safed, Ma’alot-Tarshiha and the Marom Regional Council were also set to remain shut, as were schools in the Druze towns of Daliyat al-Karmel and Ussfiyeh and in Arad, Meitar, Bnei Shimon and the South Hebron Hills in the south.

Israel Railways said Thursday that it was increasing service to and from Jerusalem, with trains setting off in either direction once per hour. This service is expected to continue until right before the Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday.

Train service between Rishon Lezion and Lod and between Beersheba and Dimona were canceled in order to free up cars for other overloaded lines, Ynet reported. Shuttle bus services were provided for customers on those lines.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a situation assessment meeting in Jerusalem Thursday, laying out goals for authorities and emergency services.

“The first objective is to save lives, the second to open roads and the third to supply electricity,” he said, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Netanyahu urged citizens to heed the warnings and instructions of authorities.

The Meteo-tech weather forecasting website predicted temperatures in Jerusalem would dip below freezing overnight and on Friday were not likely to rise above 3° C (37° F) with constant snow fall.

Over 200 snow plows, mechanical diggers and salt trucks, and dozens of four-by-four vehicles were on standby in order to clear the streets, the Jerusalem Municipality said.

The precautions in Jerusalem were driven by memories of a surprisingly heavy storm in December 2013 that blanketed the capital for days, blocking roads, bringing down power lines and trees, causing blackouts and cutting off the capital to travel.