Israel Meteorological Service Reports Record-Breaking Rainfall and Desert Floods
A severe storm system during election day broke 200-year rainfall records in southern Israel, dumping 35.6 mm of rain in ten minutes at Ramon Crater and triggering flash floods.
A rare and severe storm system that struck Israel during election day has shattered historical rainfall records in the southern and eastern desert regions, according to a special report published by the Israel Meteorological Service on Thursday.
Historic Ten-Minute Rainfall Intensity
The most extraordinary measurement was recorded at Nahal Gvanim in the Ramon Crater, where 35.6 millimeters of rain fell within just ten minutes. Meteorologists classified this intensity as a once-in-200-years event, with an estimated probability of occurrence of only 0.5 percent. This figure breaks the previous desert rainfall record set in Jericho on October 17, 1987, when 33.4 millimeters were measured over a similar duration. Across the entire country, only a single higher ten-minute measurement has ever been officially recorded: 41 millimeters in Bikat HaNadiv on November 19, 2024.
In addition, Nahal Gvanim recorded 46.4 millimeters within twenty minutes, marking the second-highest accumulation for that timeframe in the country's south and east. The all-time twenty-minute record remains in Jericho, where 52.9 millimeters were measured in 1987. The intense downpours triggered massive flash floods across the Negev, the Arava, the Dead Sea region, the Judean Desert, and the Jordan Valley. The flood protection reservoir guarding Route 90 filled to capacity and overflowed as heavy torrents rushed through Nahal Nekarot and Nahal Zin.
Widespread Storm and Gale-Force Winds
The unusual meteorological system was triggered by a combination of an active Red Sea trough at the surface, an upper-level low-pressure system over the Balkans, and moisture advection from the tropics into the Eastern Mediterranean. While accumulated totals reached 60 millimeters in the Ramon Crater and 52 millimeters in the Golan Heights, coastal areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa experienced no rainfall at all.
Severe weather also battered northern Israel, where wind gusts reached 104 kilometers per hour in Capernaum and 86 kilometers per hour in Ramat Sirin. Heavy hail, with stones reaching up to two centimeters in diameter, smashed car windshields and damaged apple orchards in the northern Golan Heights, particularly around Majdal Shams and Mas'ada.
