[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img]Dateline Jerusalem – As I melt in my non-air-conditioned apartment in 95-degree heat and 76 percent humidity, I wonder what my family in California feels like in 105-degree heat but with only 12 percent humidity. Either way it is too hot. For me, I would take dry heat over humidity any day. In years past, I often described myself as a red leaky water balloon or a dripping cherry snow-cone living here in Israel. The red and cherry describe the color of my face, the rest the state of my body. I hear others complain about the heat and humidity, but no one else I know seems to walk around like they just left a swimming pool. After a shower, within seconds I need another towel to dry myself off. Even when I had a working air-conditioner, I suffered with the humidity. Of course, July and August are the hottest months in Israel.
Not all Israel is humid even though it is located in a subtropical region. The climate in central and northern Israel is one of hot summers, the coastal plain is humid but the mountains are dry, and the southern and eastern parts of Israel have desert climates, hot and arid. There is a city called Arad in the desert. I often think someone misspelled it. It should be called Arid. Jerusalem is a city of hills, high above Israel. Although it can get very hot in the summer, it is relatively dry. Tel Aviv, along the Mediterranean Sea, is like a steam bath with sea breezes. Rehovot, where I live, has similar heat and humidity to Tel Aviv but without the breezes to cool it down. Be'er Sheva is in the desert where it is very hot and dry like the Mojave Desert in California. The Dead Sea, the lowest land elevation on earth, 1,388 feet below sea level, can get to 115 degrees during the day. It is extremely humid. Eilat, on Israel's southern tip along the Red Sea, also goes above 100 degrees but it is very dry. On the average, summer in most of the country means 85 to 100 degree weather.
An example of how hot Israel can become is the ancient fortress of Masada, atop a plateau in the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is famous for a small group of Jewish men, women and children who fought off the large Roman Army for a few years and then allegedly committed mass suicide rather than be taken alive as slaves when the Roman Army finally figured out a way to breach Masada. It symbolizes the Jewish people's determination to be free in its own land. Today cable cars like the sky-ride at Disneyland, but traveling vertically instead of horizontally, are the usual way visitors can reach the top of Masada. Going up is fine, but the going down is scary for me. Of course, I am afraid of my shadow. But Israeli soldiers and adventurous tourists can be found in the dark of night climbing the famous narrow “snake path” that twists its way around side of the mountain. Because of the extreme heat of the Judean Desert, the middle of the night is about the only time climbers can withstand the heat.
Although most of Israel is a desert, Israelis enjoy swimming in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea, snorkeling and scuba diving in the clear waters of the Red Sea, floating in the bouyant salt-filled Dead Sea, diving from cliffs into hot springs, taking a ride on a wooden boat in Lake Kinneret, also known as the Sea of Galilee, and visiting Israel's largest waterfall in the Banyas.
One of Israel's latest inventions is turning air into drinking water for its military troops. With all the humidity in Israel, no wonder that became a success.
L'hitraot. Shachar
