Who’s excited by the rain?!
In Israel, as in most of the Middle East, people wait for the first rain to fall, to break the heat and end the long, dry, summer season. The first rain is so important, in fact, the Hebrew language even has a dedicated word for the first rain: Yoreh.
After the first rain fell about two weeks ago, we reached out to our resident meteorologist, Uri Weintraub. Uri served in a meteorology unit during his time in the Israeli Defense Force, and now works as a meteorologist at a domestic airport in Rosh Pina.
“What is the one thing you still hope to see here regarding the weather?” We asked. “Snow in Tel Aviv,” he answered immediately. “The last time it happened was in 1950, before I was born, and I would love to be the one who forecasts it and then watch as my prediction comes true.”
The snow of 1950 reportedly reached 4-8 inches in Tel Aviv and nearby towns. Some records even report 3 inches of snow at the Dead Sea! To date, the snowfall of 1950 is the most widespread snow event in Israel’s history.
