Wednesday, February 3, 2010

A Winter Storm Blows into Mitzpe Ramon - 2/3/2010

A winter storm blows in to Mitzpe Ramon from the North

As Jerusalem made preparations for a possible snow storm, a winter storm blew into Mitzpe Ramon from the North. Dark clouds were accompanied by northerly winds gusting up to 17 MPH by 4:15PM. Footing at the crater's rim was hard to maintain in the strongly blowing wind. Weather forecasts included the possibility of snow, which occurs only about once every two years in the crater. By 4:40PM a cold, light drizzle had begun to fall.

Tourists huddle against the wind and cold as a winter storm descends on Machtesh Ramon

I saw a herd of Ibex making its way back to the crater as the sun set and the wind picked up.


A herd of Ibex heads for home as a storm brews

At 4:15 PM, these were the weather conditions:

Overcast with light, cold drizzle falling
Windy, with gusts to 17 MPH
Winter storm brewing
Snow forecast for tonight

Temp: 47.8 F
Wind chill: 43 F
Humidity: 67 %
Heat index: 47 F
Dew point: 37 F
Wind max: 17 mph
Wind avg: 11 mph
Wind direction: NW


9:00 PM Update: The threat of snow seems to have passed. The weather continues very cold with wind chill near freezing. This is the coldest it has been in Mitzpe Ramon since we arrived in mid-December.

Overcast
Very cold
Windy, with gusts to 20 MPH

Temp: 43 F
Wind chill: 34 F
Humidity: 86 %
Heat index: 43 F
Dew point: 39 F
Wind max: 20 mph
Wind avg: 14 mph
Wind direction: NW
 

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