The stormy and especially cold weekend in Israel saw the Kinneret rise by 4 centimeters to its lower "red line," meaning that it remains 4.2 meters below full capacity, according to the Israel Water Authority.
With heavy snowfall on Mount Hermon and the Golan Heights on Friday and Saturday, and the Galilee panhandle absorbing the heaviest rainfalls over the past few days, the River Jordan and Lake Kinneret can be expected to swell in the coming few weeks.
Since Thursday, and until yesterday at 4pm, 94 mm of rain fell in the Upper Galilee. The next wettest part of the country was Jerusalem where 86 mm fell. Only 37 mm fell in Tel Aviv and 27 mm in Beersheva but 85 mm of rain fell in Kiryat Gat.
There were especially low temperatures over the weekend, with snow on some of the Galilee peaks but it was not quite cold enough for snow to materialize in Jerusalem. Over the next few days, the temperature will rise and the rains will taper off but showers are expected throughout northern and central Israel until Wednesday.
The snow is up to 60 centimeters deep on the Mount Hermon ski slope, which is expected to open later this week.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 3, 2016
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