Northern Israel and Jerusalem have been painted white - snow has piled up

Many areas in Israel have been painted white, and in the high areas of Jerusalem the snow has piled up to a height of 2 cm. Snowflakes have been falling in the capital in recent hours, and according to the forecast, snow is expected to increase tonight. In Jerusalem and all the intercity lines to and from it as well as the light rail activity.
In the evening, it also started to snow in Mitzpe Ramon. In the north, the snow piled up in some localities to a height of about 40 cm. Kerem Ben Zimra and Dalton.
A resident of Mitzpe Ramon, Effie Perry, said following the snow that "the excitement is at its peak, and we hope to get up for a white morning. The tragedy that it is not certain that there will be a white morning, meanwhile everyone is talking about a white flake." Another resident, Yiftach Dbesh, said that "the children will be very excited about the snow. In the Lutz pits there was a little snow piled up on the ground, but I do not know if everything will remain until the morning."
In the central mountains, including Jerusalem, the snow will continue to fall intermittently until the early morning hours. The peak of the storm is expected in the coming hours and at night with heavy rain, lightning and thunder, wind gusts of up to 80 km / h and heavy snow in the north and center. Tomorrow in the late morning the snow in Jerusalem will turn to rain, and the storm will calm down.
The Jerusalem municipality has decided that classes will be held tomorrow in kindergartens, schools and special education classes, but classes will open at 9 a.m. However, it was decided that at 5:30 a.m. a situation assessment would be conducted in which up-to-date decisions would be made in light of the actual weather. An announcement of Mayor Moshe Leon's decisions will be published at 6 p.m.
Following the snow piled up in and around Jerusalem, the National Public Transport Authority in the Ministry of Transportation announced the cessation of activity of all municipal bus lines in Jerusalem and all intercity lines to and from it. The authority has announced that it is regularly monitoring the weather and will return to activity as soon as safe travel is possible.
The Ministry of Transportation instructed Israel Railways to extend the operating hours of the high-speed train line to Jerusalem until 22:30, and to operate for the benefit of passengers wishing to travel to and from Jerusalem, two trains per hour in each direction. The extension of the train's operating hours is intended to address the reduction of the activity of the intercity buses in the evening between Jerusalem and the center of the country.
In addition, the municipal and interurban service to Kiryat Arba, Gush Etzion, Mateh Binyamin, Samaria, Efrat, Givat Zeev, Beitar Illit, Mount Hebron, Mevo Dotan, Har Bracha, Beit El, Samaria and Ariel, was stopped due to the danger of slipping and roadblocks as a result. From the snow. This morning, the long-distance service to and from the city of Safed, and to large parts of the Golan Heights and the Upper Galilee, which were covered in snow, was stopped.
The National Public Transport Authority in the Ministry of Transport has opened a situation room, which is updated in real time on the weather and snow on the roads, and reports on changes in public transportation to local authorities, to the Public Transportation Center * 8787, and on the National Public Transport Authority website bus.gov.il.
The police blocked a number of traffic routes due to the weather: the tunnel road (60) was blocked between the Rosemary and the Gush junction in both directions, Road 3755 was blocked for traffic between Ein Yael and Mount Gilo in both directions, from the Ora junction to Hadassah Hospital on the other. In the direction of Har Homa, it was blocked in both directions.
In the center, except for Jerusalem, snow fell in Samaria (but not in northern Samaria), Mount Hebron, Efrat and Gush Etzion, Binyamin and a little more in the Ariel area. Many roads were also blocked in these areas due to the snow, including the Ofra junction in the direction of Jerusalem, the Mikhmas crossing junction in the direction of Givat Assaf, the Givat Asaf junction in the direction of Beit El, and the Atarot industrial zone junction to the Ofer camp. -443).
The police called on the public not to come to the Golan Heights area, and the council was informed that no classes would be held from the Keshet line north tomorrow. Heavy snow piled up throughout the northern part of the plateau, roads were blocked for traffic and vehicles that reached the area, including 4X4s, got stuck on the roads, and even slipped on a layer of ice that froze on the roads.
Except for the Negev, where a few millimeters fell, in all areas impressive amounts of rain fell across the country. Almost all meteorological service measuring stations recorded double-digit precipitation. The highest precipitation (until 6 pm) is Karni Shomron, where it dropped 95 mm in the last day.
In the deaf people in Misgav, 83 mm fell, in Gamla in the Golan Heights 69 mm were measured and in Kfar Giladi - 67 mm. In the center of Jerusalem, 32 mm of rain was measured by noon, in Tel Aviv 28 mm and at the measurement station at the Technion in Haifa - 52 mm.