A 128mm Downpour in Four Hours Floods Roads Across Israel

After several days of unseasonable heat, Israel was struck on Tuesday 25 November 2025 by an intense storm that brought record rainfall, widespread flooding and dozens of emergency rescues. "We saw tens of thousands of lightning strikes and thunderstorms developing overnight," said Dr Amir Givati, director of the Israel Meteorological Service. "Conditions deteriorated rapidly, and many areas in the north and center experienced large amounts of rain, accompanied by hail and strong wind gusts."

Meteorologists reported 128 millimetres of rain in four hours at Neve Tzuf in Samaria, the hill country north of Jerusalem (a new record for Israel's central region), with 100 millimetres at Ariel over the same period. In the Hebron Hills, south of Jerusalem, a section of the security barrier separating Israel from the Palestinian Authority collapsed under the weight of water and runoff, leaving part of the fence open.

Where the water fell

Heavy rain was recorded from the Galilee in the north to the northern Negev desert. Karnei Shomron logged 50 millimetres, Mevo Dotan 47, Ariel 39, Haifa 33 and Modi'in 30. Further south, the Negev Junction recorded 35 millimetres, Beersheba 28, the Nevatim area 25 and Mitzpe Ramon 18, with smaller readings in the Arava valley. The Times of Israel, reporting the same day, noted that the storm followed a late-November hot spell in which temperatures had passed 34C.

Why one storm can break a national record

Israel's rain falls almost entirely in a short winter season, and most of it arrives in a handful of systems, which is why a single night can rewrite regional records. The Israel Meteorological Service, which sits under the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety, runs both the national forecast and the Israel Flood Forecasting Center, issuing warnings for aviation, shipping, agriculture and the public. Givati has separately told Ynetnews that recent years have seen an increase in extreme weather events produced by the collision of warm and cold air systems, the same combination that has sent record flows down desert riverbeds such as Nahal Tze'elim near Masada.

The danger is in the dry riverbeds

The Meteorological Service issued flood warnings across the coastal plain, the lowlands and the desert regions, singling out the dry riverbeds of the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea basin and the Arava. These wadis are empty for most of the year and fill within minutes when rain falls on high ground kilometres away, which is what makes them lethal to hikers and drivers who cannot see the weather that is feeding them. "In the morning, rain will continue from the north to the northern Negev, some of it very heavy," Givati said. "There remains significant concern for flooding, and only in the second half of the day will the rains decrease and taper off toward evening."

Roads closed from the Negev to the centre

The downpour forced major road closures and heavy disruption to transport. In the Negev, sections of Route 90 and Route 40 and roads near Dimona, Sde Boker and the Ramon Crater were blocked by flooding, and the entrance to Kibbutz Mashabei Sade was closed. In central Israel, authorities shut Route 446 by Modi'in Illit and Route 463 near Na'ela.

Who does the rescuing

Israel Fire and Rescue Services said its teams had answered dozens of call-outs since Monday night, many of them motorists trapped in vehicles and residents of flooded buildings. Crews pulled people from cars at Hora, Nahal Yatir, Tamra, Omer, Nahal Alexander and Kiryat Gat, and evacuated flooded homes in Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Motzkin, Shaar Shomron and Ariel. In Elkana, firefighters brought ten residents to safety, among them a mother and her baby. The agency said command centres were reinforced through the storm and urged the public to stay away from flooded areas.

Magen David Adom, Israel's national ambulance service, was sent out repeatedly overnight to flooded homes and stranded vehicles in Kiryat Gat, Rahat, Shfaram, Modi'in Illit, Beersheba, Kafr Qasem and Tirat Carmel. In every case its medics examined, no injuries were reported. The Jerusalem Post, reporting the same day, described water more than a metre deep in places and put the Elkana rescue at ten people including a mother and infant.

What is still unclear

The agencies did not give a national total for rescues, a damage estimate, or any figure for homes left uninhabitable. Nor did they say how long the breach in the Hebron Hills security barrier would take to repair, or whether the gap had any security consequence. No deaths were reported in the material released.