Dateline Jerusalem — This may be late June, but the weather feels like August, the hottest, most humid month of the year in Israel. This week the country suffered through unusually hot weather and the forecast for next week is more of the same. It isn’t the heat so much as the humidity that affects me. I am used to living in the hot, dry high desert northeast of Los Angeles where temperatures soar well into the 100s during the summer. I could handle its torrid, dry, sauna-like heat. But in Central Israel where I live, it is more like a wet steam bath. Humidity is unbearable with temperatures near 100 degrees.
Israel is in a subtropical region, but its climate is diverse. Normally Central and Northern Israel have hot summers, the coastal plain is humid, the mountains are dry, and Eastern and Southern Israel have arid hot desert climates. This week the coastal areas like Haifa and Tel Aviv were almost in the 90s, with soaring humidity despite the Mediterranean Sea breezes. Usually in high elevations like Jerusalem, a city of hills high above Israel, the temperatures are cool and dry. Even Jerusalem had scorching mid- 90s temperatures this week. Desert areas like Beer Sheva, the Dead Sea and Eilat continue to sizzle in 105-107 degrees. Normally in August, the Dead Sea, the lowest land elevation on earth, almost 1400 feet below sea level, has temperatures over 115 degrees and high humidity. Eilat, along the Red Sea on Israel’s southern tip, is similarly hot but dry in August, despite being near water. Temperatures will be well into the 100s during August, not in June.
Only After Dark
Because of the extreme heat of the Judean Desert, the middle of the night is about the only time Israeli soldiers and adventurous tourists climb the famous narrow snake path of Masada that twists its way around the side of the mountain to the top of the plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. During the day, a Disneyland-like cable car sky-ride travels vertically up to the top of Masada. The ancient fortress of Masada is famous for the small group of heroic Jewish men, women and children who fought off the large Roman Army for several years. When the Roman Army finally figured out how to breach the fortress of Masada, the small band of Jews allegedly committed mass suicide rather than be killed or taken alive as slaves.
Most of Israel is desert. Bsut Israelis enjoy riding in wooden boats on Lake Kinneret (also known as the Sea of Galilee), snorkeling and scuba diving in the crystal clear water of the Red Sea, swimming in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea, diving from cliffs into hot springs, and floating in the buoyant, salt-filled Dead Sea where it is almost impossible to drown. Those who do not wish to get into the water visit Israel’s largest waterfall in the verdant Banyas.
My electric bill may be high by Israeli standards, but much lower than I paid in the States. I keep the air conditioner running 24/7. When I venture outside, however, I find my friends and I complaining about the heat. They do not seem to suffer as I do with the humidity. In fact, they tend more to complain about the Hamsin, a dry, hot wind that we experience during the spring. People stare at me as if I have a strange disease. My face is flushed red, dripping like a leaky water balloon. My clothes look as though I just left a swimming pool. No point in drying off after a shower. Within seconds, I need a new towel. I stopped wearing makeup when I moved to Israel. My pores ooze. The makeup leaves streaks and dark smudges. Skin lotions and moisturizers, I must admit, are not necessary. The humidity seems good for my complexion.
As with everything else in Israel, temperatures, weather and a water crisis have led to amazing inventions. Israelis have turned this desert country into a green and blooming nation with the development of desalination programs, water-waste refuse projects, the invention of drip irrigation, various agricultural and water technologies and inventions. Israel even invented a process for turning air into drinking water for military troops!
As I sit here complaining about the almost 100-degree weather, my air conditioner is blowing full blast. Of course, I am sure there will be electricity outages as others return home from their jobs and turn on their air conditioners. Hopefully my home will remain cool.
L’hitraot. Shachar