Rain in Israel as cold snap and winds batter US and Europe
Swaths of America shut down due to extreme weather; 400,000 without power in Poland; deaths reported on two continents
Gavriel Fiske is a reporter at The Times of Israel
Israel will experience more rain and unseasonably cold weather this week in a continuing cold spell amid reports of exceptionally cold and windy weather across several US states and extreme wind conditions in parts of Europe.
In Israel, the light rain and cold weather was to continue until Wednesday, when a new cold front is due to bring thunderstorms, high winds and low temperatures to all parts of the country, the Israel Meteorological Service reported Sunday morning. Snow is expected on Mt. Hermon, and flood warnings for low-land areas remain in effect.
A late-fall cold snap that has gripped much of the United States is being blamed for a handful of deaths and has forced people to deal with frigid temperatures, power outages and treacherous roads.
Four people died of hypothermia in the San Francisco Bay area in California and about a half-dozen traffic-related deaths were blamed on the weather in several states. Temperatures in Montana and South Dakota dropped below -29 Celsius (-20 Fahrenheit) during the day Saturday, while wind chill readings could drop as low as -45 Celsium (-50 Fahrenheit) in northwestern Minnesota, weather officials said. Icy conditions were expected to last through the weekend from Texas to Ohio to Tennessee, and Virginia officials warned residents of a major ice storm likely to take shape Sunday, resulting in power outages and hazards on the roads.
A powerful wind storm swept across Europe on Friday, and the death toll continued to rise as 400,000 people in Poland were without power, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.
Three were reported killed in Poland after a tree fell on a moving vehicle. Off the coast of Sweden, two sailors were swept overboard, and in Austria a weather-related multi-vehicle crash caused at least one death. Additional deaths were reported in England, Scotland and Denmark.
AP contributed to this report.
