As soon as Israeli Jews began asking for rain in the Amidah prayer on Friday, it started raining – recommended talking point in debates with atheist friends. The, on Saturday night, Israel switched to the winter clock and on Monday morning heavy rains began in earnest. Haifa and the rest of northern Israel are already flooded, as an estimated 60mm of rain came down in just a few hours. The temperature are in the 50s and 60s, this after a warm and muggy summer that never ended (well, it did end, last Friday).
Several traffic arteries were blocked in Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, including the Paz bridge heading north to the Check Post (where Haifa Bay makes a turn to the northwest). The city of Atlit, on the coast south of Haifa, is also experiencing serious traffic delays due to a ditch that opened up in the middle of the highway. Several communities circling the Carmel mountains are also experiencing serious road flooding.
The weather report calls for more winter for the rest of the week, topped by a major rain system moving into Israel come the weekend.
You know what comes next: the Negev desert is going to bloom overnight with a carpet of fresh flowers, which means more traffic jams, this time on account of Israeli nature lovers.