Over the course of Tuesday night, the Kinneret rose by an additional 6 centimeters (2.36 inches) and is now at the highest point that it has been at in the past five years. The sea has risen a total of 2.86 meters (9.38 feet) since the beginning of the winter. It now sits at -211.80 meters below sea level which is 3 meters (9.84 feet) below its maximum capacity.

Due to the late season storm this past weekend, the Kinneret rose 27 centimeters between Friday and Tuesday. Rains are supposed to continue in the north of Israel until the weekend.

With additional water flow still expected to reach the Kinneret from nearby streams and even more once the snow on the Hermon mountain melts, experts are predicting that the sea will still rise significantly once all of that water makes its way to the sea.

In 1991/2 the Kinneret rose four meters over the winter and in 2002/3 the level rose by five meters.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)