In most years, snowfall here in the Northeast is business as usual, but it is a rarity in Israel. Yet, on Jan. 27 this year, a rare snowfall hit parts of Israel and the West Bank, dropping 6 to 10 inches of snow on Jerusalem, and closing schools and businesses. This provided no disappointment to Rabbi Gadi’s nephew, Amit Buhbut, who provided proof of the phenomenon and his first experience making snow angels.

 

Historically, a snow event occurred in early January 1950 with a hailstorm in Tel Aviv and light snow in the mountains of the Upper Galilee and Jerusalem. A cold front spread throughout the country, and snow began falling in the mountains of Samaria and the West. On the 28th, it snowed in Haifa and piled up to a height of 8 to 12 inches, the largest snowfall registered since the beginning of meteorological measurements in 1870. No accumulation of snow has occurred in the Israeli Mediterranean coastal plain and the Dead Sea since the 1950 event. Snow is unknown in the vicinity of Eilat in the southernmost Negev.