Meteorologists explained that the earlier than usual rains will not necessarily follow the predicted pattern because the approaching weather depression is from Africa and not from the north, the usual source of winter rains.  

On Sunday, the second day of Rosh HaShanah, occasional rain will fall along most of the MediterraneanCoast with a chance of thunderstorms, spreading to the hilly areas in the afternoon.

Sunday night will be downright cold. The weather will settle down by Monday, but temperatures will remain cooler than normal until mid-week, when they will rise.

The first long-range forecasts indicate a wetter than usual winter, according to meteorologist Amir Givati, with the rains predicted for Rosh HaShanah serving as a good omen.

The Kinneret, the most widely watched measure of Israel’s water reserves, now stands at a whopping 5.39 meters below the level when dams would have to be opened to prevent flooding in the lakeside city of Tiberias. The last time the dams were opened was in the winter of 1992-1993.

The Kinneret is 71 centimeters (28 inches) above the black line, where water authorities may have to stop pumping water because of fears of contamination and irreversible damage to the remaining water.

Water conservation efforts this year have cut water usage by 20 percent, and if the short and long-range forecasts materialize, the black line will not be reached and Israel can look forward to what most foreigners would consider a miserably wet winter.