Winter lasts from December through March, but sometimes it starts in November and ends in April. Winter temperatures are cool or cold in the mountains, cool or mild along the coast, and mild in the deserts. Below-freezing temperatures occur for a few days in the higher ground above 700 meters and in closed valleys. Along the coast temperatures very rarely go below 5. A few days of warm temperatures above 25 can occur in the winter, but they are rare except in the deserts. In winter, Israel is mostly affected by low pressure systems from the west, with troughs of low pressure aloft. These lows usually develop in the central Mediterranean and move east, or develop right over the eastern Mediterranean as a result of a deepening upper-level trough and the lee-low effect of the mountains of Turkey. In Israel they are called Cyprus Lows.

   The Cyprus Lows are defined by a relatively inactive warm front, since the source of the air coming ahead and behind the front is in the deserts of northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and is therefore dry. The cold front however is very active, because of the great difference in temperature between the deserts to the south and south-west of us, and eastern Europe to the north and north-west of us. Thunderstorms, hail, heavy rain and strong winds usually accompany the cold front and the cold sector. Therefore almost all of the rain falls from cold convective clouds, and daily amounts of 50 millimeters or more are not uncommon. Exceptionally cold storms that bring snowfall to the higher ground above 700 meters, occur on average once every year; but some years have two or more snow events, while others have none. The Hermon mountain in northern Israel (2224 meters) is usually covered with snow from November through April or May. Snow accumulation at sea-level last occured on February 1950. Snowfall at sea-level last occured on January 2000, but is still extremely rare. Snow, like rain, also falls from convective clouds and more often than not is accompanied by thunderstorms. Daily accumulation of 15 to 40 centimeters is common, and can reach more than 100 centimeters in Mount Hermon. Tornadoes occur every winter, but they are rarely photographed, and are short-lived and weak.

The average annual precipitation, which falls almost entirely in winter, is 500 to 600 millimeters in the Mediterranean coastal areas including Tel-Aviv, 700 to 900 in the mountains of Galilee including Safed and in the northern Golan Heights, 1100 to 1300 in Mount Hermon, the northernmost tip of Israel, 550 to 800 in the Judean mountains including Jerusalem, 400 in the Sea of Galilee, 50 to 100 around the Dead Sea, 50 to 200 in the Negev Desert including Be'er-Sheva, and 32 in Eilat, the southernmost tip of Israel.

   Some of the other weather systems that may affect Israel during the winter, but are not very common, are the Red Sea Trough (explained later) which brings warm temperatures, and the Syberian High, which is an extension of the high pressure system centered in northern Asia. It brings clear, dry and cold weather, with extensive frost.

   Autumn is in October and November, but sometimes starts in mid-September or ends in mid-November. Spring is in April and May, but sometimes starts in mid-March. Two unique weather systems affect Israel during the transitional seasons: the Red Sea Trough, and the Sharav Low. Both of them are sometimes associated with thunderstorms and in most cases, especially in the Red Sea Trough, these are the most severe storms that develop in Israel. In early spring and late autumn, Cyprus Lows may also affect us.

   The Sharav Low is a frontal low pressure system that develops over the coast of north Africa, usually around Tunisia. The low develops as a result of the sharp contrast in temperature between the Mediterranean sea which is still cold after the winter, and the Sahara Desert which becomes hot very fast in the beginning of spring. The low travels east along the coast, sometimes passing through Israel and sometimes moving north through the eastern Mediterranean into Syria and Turkey, and dissipating shortly after moving out of the sea. These lows tend to be deep with high winds of 30 knots or more that cause sand storms in the Sahara and the Negev Desert, some of which may move over other parts of Israel. The lowest recorded sea-level pressure in Israel, and some of the highest recorded temperatures, were the result of Sharav Lows. The air ahead of the low is extremely dry and hot. The warm and cold fronts tend to be inactive, unless there is humidity present at middle levels; in such a case middle-based cumulonimbus clouds may form. At the passing of the cold front the temperatures may drop by 10 to 15 degrees within an hour. The westerly winds coming from the Mediterraean behind the cold front brings a sharp increase in low-level humidity which may cause local development of rain clouds and in extreme cases even thunderstorms.

   The Red Sea Trough is a northerly extension of the thermal Sudanese Low that sits over Sudan and Ethiopia for most of the year. A trough tends to develop from that low northwards along the Red Sea, because of the lee-low effect of the mountains along the coast of Saudi Arabia and the extreme surface heating. That trough is usually unable to reach northwards all the way to Israel during winter because it is blocked by high pressure over Egypt. In summer it is blocked by the Indian Monsoon from the east. Autumn and spring are the times when the Red Sea Trough makes it's way all the way north to Israel and sometimes even to Syria. When the movement northwards is combined with a deepening of an upper-level trough or low from eastern Europe, the most severe weather outbreaks occur. If an upper-level low moves southwards into Egypt, winds on the east side of it, over Israel and the Red Sea, come from the south and bring with them hot and humid air masses from the equator. These tropical air masses move north into to cold upper-level air. On the surface, the Red Sea Trough brings winds from the south-east, and they are hot and very dry. Huge temperature differences occur between the lower and upper levels. Convergence and convection is at it's peak right over Israel: we are ahead but very close to the cold upper-level low, and at the tip of the surface Red Sea Trough where vorticity is maximum. In such cases severe thunderstorms develop especially over eastern and southern Israel, with large hail and damaging winds. Low-level humidity is usually low so most of the storms are middle-based. But in some cases there are southerly surface winds, bringing humidity into Israel from the Red Sea. Low-level humidity may also enter from the Mediterranean sea in the west, when the Red Sea Trough moves over the eastern Mediterranean and a low pressure center is formed there. In these cases full-blown thunderstorms develop with flash floods and very large hail. Supercells and weak tornadoes can occur in this scenario. A large-scale outbreak occurs once every 3 to 5 years. Local severe events occur 3 to 6 times a year, but in some years there may be 15 or more, and in others none.

   Summer is from June to mid-September. During the entire summer the subtropical ridge moves northwards and covers Israel relentlessly. On the surface Israel is affected by the Persian Trough, a thermal trough that is an extension of the Indian Monsoon low that extends from India into the Persian Gulf. The Persian Trough brings west to north-westerly winds. These winds blow over the Mediterranean sea and slightly cool the coastal areas while keeping humidity oppresively high. The subsidence caused by the subtropical ridge along with the relatively "cool" surface winds from the sea, creates a permanent marine inversion at about 300 to 700 meters, between the coastal areas and central mountains. Areas above the inversion such as Jerusalem, are much drier than the coast and therefore the heat is less oppresive. The average maximum temperature in July in Tel-Aviv is 29 but with 70 to 80 percent humidity. Although Jerusalem is much higher, the average maximum July temperature is the same because of the inversion and subsiding air, but humidity levels are only 30 to 40 percent. Below the inversion low clouds develop almost every morning and are limited by the inversion cap. Above the inversion there are usually no clouds at all. In some days the Persian Trough deepens and the subtropical ridge falters a bit, causing the marine inversion to rise above 1000 meters. In such cases the humidity in the coast lowers because it can be spread across a thicker layer, so the heat stress is lessened, but the temperature stays the same because it cannot go below the temperature of the Mediterranean sea. In the mountains the humidity rises and the temperature decreases, and low clouds can form. Light rain or sprinkles can occur in these conditions, but it is rare. In other days when the Persian Trough becomes weaker and retreats eastward, the marine inversion lowers and humidity in coastal areas rises even more, while the temperature above the inversion rises, and the heat is oppressive everywhere. Maximum temperature in Eilat, Jordan River Valley and the Dead Sea stays around 40 for most of the summer.