Snow in Israel is uncommon, but it occurs in higher elevations; including the northern part of the country and inJerusalem District. In January and February 1950, Jerusalem experienced the largestsnowfall recorded since the beginning of meteorological measurements in 1870. No accumulation of snow has occurred in theIsraeli Mediterranean coastal plain and theDead Sea area since the 1950 snowfalls. Snow is unknown in the vicinity ofEilat, in the southernmostNegev.
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The snow event began in early January 1950 with a hailstorm inTel Aviv and light snow in the mountains of theUpper Galilee andJerusalem.[1] On 27 January, it began to snow in the northern mountains and Jerusalem. It piled up but quickly melted. Acold front spread throughout the country, and snow began falling in the mountains ofSamaria and the west. On 28 January it snowed inHaifa and accumulated to 15 cm. Even in Tel Aviv snow fell for several minutes.[2] On 29 January, it snowed again in Haifa, blanketing most of the city in white.[3]
A week later, on 6–7 February, heavy snow began to fall across the country. The depth reached 60 cm inSafed, 100 cm in Jerusalem, 17 cm in Haifa, and 12–19 cm in Tel Aviv, Jaffa and Lod; it also snowed inPetah Tikva,Netanya andSamaria, inRishon Lezion's streets, on the mountains surrounding theSea of Galilee, and in theNegev.[4] On 8 February, the snow fell around theDead Sea, with 8 cm of accumulation reported.[5]
On 13 December 2013, 40–70 cm (16–28 in) of snow fell inJerusalem and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in theKefar Etzion area. Warmer parts of Israel received heavy rains, causing floods. Even though it was theSabbath, therailway into Jerusalem ran for people stranded by blocked roads.[citation needed]
Roads were closed in Israel by deep snow and flooding. Storm clouds promptedBen Gurion Airport to shut down, forcing US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry to cut short his meeting with Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas inRamallah to return to Israel before roads and airports were out of service.[6] Jerusalem was cut off for 48 hours by deep snow and flooding, and cars were abandoned after they got stuck in snow.[citation needed]
