קולוקוויום בחוג לגאופיזיקה: Weekly Rainfall Patterns in Israel and Fish-Kill Events in the Sea of Galilee

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Abstract:

In this seminar, I will explore two intriguing weather phenomena in Israel. In the first part, I will discuss evidence for a significant weekly cycle in rainfall derived from 70 years of observations across 60 in-situ stations. Generally, weekends exhibit lower precipitation levels, aligning with reduced anthropogenic activity. Comparisons with model simulations and shuffled-day tests suggest that this cycle is linked to human activity, with a possible connection to observed weekly variations in sea-level pressure. In the second part, I will focus on Lake Kinneret, where strong westerly winds generate internal waves that can upwell cold, oxygen-poor water into the surface layer. When this occurs early in the stratified season, it can lead to rare but severe fish kills along the western shore. I will describe results from a coupled atmosphere–lake model simulation that help explain these events and their intriguing overlap with the site mentioned in biblical accounts.

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מארגן האירוע: ד"ר ליאור רובננקו