Today in Beer Sheva we woke up to a bright sunny day, with clear blue skies, clean from all the wind, rain, hail, snow, and cold which hit the entire country from last Tuesday night till yesterday (Sat.) afternoon.  There has not been a major storm of this magnitude to hit Israel (and the rest of the countries round-about:  it even snowed in Cairo and parts of Saudi Arabia!) in the early part of December since records have been kept.  The last storm of this intensity and duration was in 1897.  It may be that we will see more record-breaking weather more frequently as the end-times progress with its troubles.  This storm even received a name — Alexa — perhaps hinting of its source in Siberia.

“In the 24 hours from Wednesday, [Dec 11], at 8 a.m. to Thursday at 8 a.m., the largest amounts of rain – between 60 and 100 millimeters – fell in the hills of Judea, Gush Etzion, the southern Coastal Plain and the northern Negev, according to IMS data.  The IMS station recorded 113 millimeters for this time period, while Beersheba measured 71 millimeters, the greatest amount of daily rainfall recorded there since 1921.”   Beer Sheva received more than 3-times the normal amount of rainfall for the whole month of December in the 4-day period.  “Out of all the water drenched regions, the Western Negev received the greatest quantities, at approximately 200 millimeters, the Water Authority said.”  “Out of all the water drenched regions, the Western Negev received the greatest quantities, at approximately 200 millimeters, the Water Authority said.  The rains also led to strong flows in the Shikma, Lachish, Basor and Ayalon streams. At Nahal Shikma, located in the Western Negev, such strong flow occurs only once every 25 years, the Water Authority said.”
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Temperatures-remain-low-as-weekend-storm-blows-over-335049

Here is a great NASA satellite photo from today showing the snow on the mountains and cities of Israel, and round-about:
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/satellite-photo-of-the-snow/2013/12/15/

And in the flurry of all this both wonderful and damaging weather system, our first grandson experienced his first full week of life which God gave him!