January 2021 General Overall, January Was Close to the Average in Terms of Its Rainfall Amount
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A monthly weather summary – January 2021 General Overall, January was close to the average in terms of its rainfall amount. In some of the areas, it was slightly rainier than average, like the northern mountains Judea and in some other areas, it was below average, like in the central Coastal Plain and the south. The first part of January was without any rain, following the last week of December, thus creating a long and exceptional episode of a dry spell. This episode was also much warmer than average, so that despite the cooling in the second part of the month (which included all the rains of this month), January was considerably warmer than average. At the beginning of the month, there was a sequence of several nights and mornings with fog in the Coastal Plain and the Shfela. The accumulated rainfall amounts since the beginning of the season exceed the average for the parallel period in the Coastal Plain and the north of the country and are lower than the average in the eastern and the central of the country. Rainfall in January Rainfall totals in the northern mountains were 180 to 250 mm and in the Hula Valley 150 to 180 mm, which is 100% to 120% of the average for January for these areas. In the Western Galilee and the Northern Golan Heights the amounts were 270 to 300 mm, which is more than 125% of the monthly average. Another area, which was rainier than average is the Central Mountains, where 140 to 220 mm were measured (110% to 125%). Several areas were close to the average, such as the Sharon, Kinneret areas and parts of the Southern Coastal Plain. In the Northern Coastal Plain, Jizreel Valley and Samaria, the rainfall amounts in January were slightly below the monthly average (80% to 95%). In the Central Coastal Plain and the Northern Negev, the deficit was larger with amounts of 50% to 75% of the January average and further south there was almost no rain (maps 1,2 and table 1). Rainfall (mm ) % of average Figure 1*: Precipitation in January 2021 (mm) Figure 2*: Precipitation in January 2021 – percent of average Table 1: Rainfall in January 2021 in comparison with the long term average1 Rainfall in January Long term average % of January Station 2021 (mm) for January (mm) average Liman 215 173 124% Nahariyya 184 174 106% Haifa (Port) 152 161 94% Yagur 150 194 77% En HaShofet 172 186 92% En HaHoresh 142 156 91% Kefar Hess 197 166 119% Nir Eliyyahu 167 169 99% Coastal Plain and Nahshonim 132 150 88% the Shfela2 HaKefar HaYarok 81 162 50% Miqwe Yisrael 96 154 62% Bet Dagan 112 154 73% Gan Shlomo (Rehovot) 104 140 74% Qevuzat Yavne 114 145 79% Nizzanim 111 138 80% Negba 132 128 103% Ziqim 105 119 88% Dorot 74 111 67% Be'eri 63 98 64% Besor 43 64 67% Merom Golan Picman 225 215 105% Gamla 158 147 107% Elon 293 217 135% Kefar Gil'adi 241 197 122% Northern Mountains Meron 255 244 105% Zefat Har Kenaan 183 185 99% Harashim 288 267 108% Deir Hanna 171 166 103% Newe Ya'ar 143 162 88% Merhavya 92 120 77% Dafna 188 156 121% Kefar Blum 166 133 125% Northern Valleys Ayelet HaShahar 132 132 100% Ginnosar 117 121 97% Zemah 97 99 98% Sede Eliyyahu 78 69 113% Kedumim 172 169 102% Ariel 128 164 78% Zova 182 170 107% Central Mountains Jerusalem Centre 148 137 108% Beit Jimal 171 136 126% Rosh zurim 170 147 116% Arad 24 38 63% Beer Sheva 34 54 63% Negev Sede Boqer 3 27 11% Mizpe Ramon 1 18 6% Gilgal 23 45 51% Sedom 1 Jordan Valley and Hatzeva 0 the Arava3 Paran 0 Timna (Ramon Apt.) 0.1 Elat 0.1 The dry spell in the first half of January For almost three weeks, from the 23rd December to the 12th January, there were no rains and such a long dry spell during this wintry period is very exceptional. In the past, there have been similar cases, even longer, but they tended to occur, mostly during months, which are not part of the major winter months (November-December or February-March). Long dry spells during the central winter months have occurred in the past, but mostly they were not total and did not include the entire country, for example: 15th January till the 10th February 2015 (25 days), but during this episode, there were a few rains in the North; a long episode from the middle of December 2013 till the end of March 2014, during which was an extreme lack of rains, but it was not completely dry; 23 to 25 days in two cases in the 50's, but with a little rain in the North. The only additional case, of a total dry spell during the central winter Months, occurred 50 years ago, from the 19th December 1970 till the 9th January 1971, but it lasted 21 to 22 days. Another interesting phonemenon had occurred at the beginning of the episode (3rd to 6th) with a sequence of nights and mornings with fog in the Coastal Plain (including Tel-Aviv area), the Shfela and the north western Negev. Such a sequence is exceptional during the winter period, espeically in Tel Aviv area and Ben-Gurion airport. there was previously only one more case with a similar sequence (from the end of January till the beginning of February in 1979). Nevetheless, it should be mentioned that there were a few more cases with a sequence of several days in the winter, which included also the Shfela and the Northern Negev, such as January 200, January 1995, February 1969 and January 1966. Also, the episode during November 2010, should be mentioned. This episode included 7 consequent nights and mornings with fog in the Coastal Plain, the Shfela and north western Negev, out of which, during two nights, the airport was even closed. Rain events in January a. January 13-20: a long rainfall episode of 8 days, during which amounts of 100 to 200 mm were measured in the north and the centre of the country. In the Golan Heights and Galilee, 150 to 200 mm were measured and in the Western Galilee and the Northern Golan Heights, over 220 mm. In the Northern Valleys and central Israel, 100 to 150 mm and the rains also reached the south with 25 to 40 mm in the Northern Negev. The rain event can be divided into two main parts. One from the 13th till the 15th, during which 20 to 50 mm were measured, and the second from the 16th to the 20th. In the area of Nahariya and the Western Galilee, 100 mm and more were measured during less than 24 hours (on the 16-17th ), causing flooding in the city. On the 19th, it rained in the north until noontime. The rain intensities were not high in most of the areas, except the Karmel area. In the town of Nesher was flooding. b. January 27 to 31: In the North and the Centre, mostly 20 to 40 mm were measured and in several places in the Galilee and the Golan Heights, 50 to 65 mm were measured. It rained mostly on the 28th and 29th. Accumulated rainfall since the beginning of the season The rainfall amounts since the beginning of the season are above average in the northern Israel and in the Coastal Plain and below average in the east and south of the country. In the north of the country and in the Coastal Plain, 110% to 130% of the average for the correspondingperiod have been measured by the end of January. In the Northern Coastal Plain (the Nahariya-Rosh Haniqra area), the accumulated amounts reach 140% to 150% and in this area the amount has already reached the average for the entire rainy season. In the other parts of the Coastal Plain, 75% to 90% of the rains for the entire season have accumulated. In Samaria and Judea, the accumulated amounts since the beginning of the season are close to the long-term average for the same period or slightly lower than it. A deficit continues to exist in the south – stations in the Northern Negev have measured only 60% to 80% of the average as did the Jordan Valley (maps 3,4 and table 2). Rainfall (mm) % of average Map 3: Accumulated precipitation Sep 2020 to Map 4: Accumulated precipitation Sep 2020 to Jan 2021 (mm) Jan 2021 - % of same period average Table 2: Accumulated rainfall since the beginning of the season until the end of January 2021 compared with the average Accumulated Long term average Annual average % of annual % of average for Station rainfall Sep 2020- September to (mm) average the same period Jan 2021 (mm) January (mm) Liman 626 430 146% 636 98% Nahariyya 622 418 149% 615 101% Haifa (Port) 419 390 107% 565 74% Yagur 582 469 124% 709 82% En HaShofet 517 454 114% 661 78% En HaHoresh 486 397 122% 576 84% Kefar Hess 611 419 146% 614 100% Nir Eliyyahu 516 418 123% 613 84% Nahshonim 440 373 118% 552 80% HaKefar HaYarok 462 408 113% 595 78% Miqwe Yisrael 450 371 121% 522 86% Bet Dagan 468 377 124% 540 87% Gan Shlomo 420 370 114% 535 79% Qevuzat(Rehovot) Yavne 394 367 107% 526 75% Nizzanim 416 353 118% 505 82% Negba 402 339 119% 500 80% Ziqim 396 320 124% 447 89% Dorot 232 263 88% 394 59% Be'eri 149 250 60% 359 42% Besor 75 140 54% 216 35% Merom Golan 486 477 102% 811 60% Picman Gamla 375 349 107% 578 65% Elon 712 516 138% 805 88% Kefar Gil'adi 486 458 106% 757 64% Meron 567 545 104% 881 64% Zefat Har Kenaan 481 436 110% 688 70% Harashim 716 626 114% 988 72% Deir Hanna 458 388 118% 616 74% Newe Ya'ar 567 390 145% 584 97% Merhavya 331 289 115% 460 72% Dafna 399 381 105% 615 65% Kefar Blum 347 316 110% 507 68% Ayelet HaShahar 361 301 120% 472 76% Ginnosar 337 284 119% 447 75% Zemah 296 237 125% 383 77% Sede Eliyyahu 168 172 98% 278 60% Kedumim 408 405 101% 642 64% Ariel 307 391 79% 628 49% Zova 336 399 84% 656 51% Jerusalem Centre 273 308 89% 522 52% Beit Jimal 315 314 100% 506 62% Rosh zurim 332 340 98% 564 59% Arad 56 77 73% 134 42% Beer Sheva 64 117 55% 192 33% Sede Boqer 11 50 22% 87 13% Mizpe Ramon 12 39 31% 70 17% Gilgal 76 108 70% 171 44% Sedom 34 21 39 87% Hatzeva 13 21 40 33% Paran 4 15 33 12% Timna (Ramon Apt.) 13 12 22 59% Elat 11 12 22 50% Temperatures and weather during the month Temperatures in January were considerably higher than average (1995-2009).