Israel on Tuesday experienced an unbelievable spike in the number of times lightning struck the country, amid unseasonably cold and wet weather.
The Israel Electric Company’s Lightning Laboratory reported that from 10:04 to 16:50, its lightning detection and registration system recorded 828 lightning strikes in Israel’s land area, which is a 2748% increase over May’s monthly average of 30 lightning events.
Israel experienced wintery weather conditions and rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Kinneret Lake’s level increased by a centimeter, leaving only 11 centimeters (approx. 2.5 inches) until the lake if full.
After years of drought, Israel endured an extremely wet winter that pushed up the dangerously low Kinneret level, which was at its lowest recorded level in decades.
The Kinneret was once Israel’s primary source of water, but the construction of five desalinization plants off the Mediterranean coast has turned the country into a global water powerhouse.
