SNOW IN JERUSALEM: Wintry conditions expected to blanket the Holy Land today
In Jerusalem schools closed early on Wednesday and are already canceled tomorrow
JERUSALEM—Snow started falling in Jerusalem Wednesday evening beckoning residents outside to experience the first snowfall of the season.
The municipality announced schools would be closed on Thursday in anticipation of continued precipitation.
Hailing from Greece and Turkey, winter storm Elpis – which means hope in Greek – brought with it wintry weather for the entire country as the extreme conditions that blanketed Turkey and Greece earlier this week were on their way to take Israel, well, by storm.
Route 1 – the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway – was closed after the snow started.
Several inches of snow in Safed (Tsfat) settled in already this afternoon and up to seven were expected in Jerusalem before the snow turned to rain again.
Snow was piling up in the Golan Heights from this morning while heavy rains and even hail came down in the Haifa area most of the day.
Jerusalem schools and after-school programs ended at 3 p.m. to ensure that children were home before the storm started.
Israel is in the midst of an unusual cold snap that has not broken in a week.
The snowstorm brought parts of Turkey and Greece to a halt, disrupting Athens and forcing the closure of the airport in Istanbul.
"אלפיס" כאן: שלג במג'דל שמס שברמת הגולן@rubih67
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 26, 2022
צילום: אמיר אבו סלאח pic.twitter.com/2jqzBtzkvl
Israel's Welfare Ministry planned to get the homeless into hotels during the storm.
"This ensures that there will not be a single person in Israel without a roof over the stormy days. Local authorities do not have to bear any cost, everything will be funded by the ministry as long as they find a solution," Welfare Minister Meir Cohen said.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
