1998-1999 Chase Summary:

* The 98-99 chasing season was the worst one I remember. Israel was (and still is) affected by a severe drought, and there were very few good stormy days. The last year we had such a severe drought was 1950, and the next winter was one of the stormiest ever, so I hope statistics will be right... We'll just have to wait for October and see.

Reports for April 8:

* A severe thunderstorm developed above Jerusalem during the night, dropping very heavy rain and large hail for several hours. The lightning was massive, mostly cloud-to-ground, and there was one wild bolt especially that shook the entire city. The Ein-Gedi area (near the Dead Sea) was closed for several hours due to a major flood created by the thunderstorm.

Reports for April 7-8:

* Winter has made a come-back! (not that we had any real winter this year...) Heavy rain showers fell in most areas of Israel with plenty of thunderstorm activity, and it was cold.

Reports for March 30:

* The first day with spring storms! A small thunderstorm developed above Jerusalem in the afternoon, dropping short but heavy rain before moving away. A large thunderstorm developed at the same time in the Arava, with a microburst of heavy rain and large hail, flooding the area. Another large storm developed above Jerusalem again during the night, and created heavy rainfall and beautiful lightning.

Reports for February 19:

* 40mm of rain fell in Jerusalem today, and that's the highest 24hr total Jerusalem has had so far this winter. That's not a good total compared to normal seasons, but since the drought began it's the heaviest so far.

Reports for January 27:

* Hailstorm developed near Tel-Aviv and passed through Jerusalem, causing numerous flash floods.

Reports for January 24:

* Hailstorm in Jerusalem, up to marble size hail. The hailstorm produced a flash flood in the Judean Desert. 3 people were killed while hiking in the Dragot stream.

Reports for January 17-20:

* The first winter storm passed through Israel, bringing the first significant rainfall in the past 2 months, and the first snow in Mount Hermon.

Reports for December 31:

* A massive thunderstorm near Haifa produced an incredible cloud burst with 200 mm of rain falling in just 12 hours! This amazingly heavy amount of rainfall for a short period of time produced floods in the area that caused millions of dollars of damage.

Reports for December:

* December 1998 has been the driest on record.

Reports for November:

* This has been the driest and warmest Autumn (September-October-November) in the past 58 years in Israel!!!. We had between 10%-30% of the rains we should be getting so far, and the prospects for the near future are not promising... Still the Israeli Meteorological Service are predicting a winter with above average rainfall.

Reports for November 10:

* The first rains finally arrived. Marble to quarter size hail was reported in Jerusalem, with floodings in the judean desert. Thundery showers developed almost everywhere. Look for new pictures at the Picture Gallery.

Reports for October 11-13:

* Hot temperatures, accompanied by dry easterly winds, resulted in numerous wild fires in forests and residential areas across Israel. We are still waiting for the rains, which should come any day now.