Mount Hermon received its first snowfall of the 2026 winter season overnight between Sunday and Monday, capping a weekend of heavy rain and storms that triggered severe flooding in several parts of Israel.
The mountain, part of a range straddling the Israel-Lebanon border, has its highest Israeli-controlled point at Mitzpe Shlagim, which rises between 2,224 and 2,236 meters. The site is also home to Israel's only ski resort.
Video shared on social media Sunday from the Hermon Stream (Banias) Nature Reserve in northern Israel showed the Banias waterfall surging, with water racing through nearby streams after the storms.
Despite the record rainfall that lashed central and northern Israel, the Sea of Galilee, known as the Kinneret, rose by only one centimeter over the weekend, the Water Authority said. The lake now stands at 213.70 meters below sea level, still 39 centimeters lower than at the same point last year.
Water Authority spokesperson Itay Dudi said roughly 20 millimeters of rain fell directly over the lake during the weekend, while the Jordan River was flowing at six cubic meters per second.
"The effect of the rain on the river is still small to negligible," Dudi said, noting that most of the precipitation from the current weather system landed on Israel's coastal plain, especially in the south. He added that "over the past decade, there were three winters with worse figures: Exactly one decade ago, the water level was 3 cm higher than it is today."
Additional Water Authority data placed the lake's current level among the lowest ever recorded for November 8 in the past decade. Even so, the situation was worse in some earlier years: in 2017 the water level sat 58 centimeters lower than it does now, and in 2018 it was 94 centimeters lower.
The Sharon region saw some of the worst weekend flooding, with several areas of Kadima-Zoran inundated. The local council urged residents to remain indoors and avoid non-essential travel.
According to Israel Meteorological Service figures, the Kadima weather station logged a record 117 millimeters of rain in just an hour and a quarter, an exceptional amount for the Sharon area. Council crews were later sent out to clear hazards, remove blockages and drain standing water.
