Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, 5780, Perfect Weather Forecast

Women's Rosh Chodesh Prayers at Tel Shiloh

Perfect outdoor dovening weather is forecast for Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, Tuesday, October 29, 2019, the 30th of Tishrei, 5780.

Of course Gd can decide to surprise us...

We never know what we'll discover...

Our plan is to meet at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh at 8:30 in the morning and pray together. The "silent" prayers are prayed silently, and Hallel is sung out loud together. If you'd like more information, email me with "Rosh Chodesh" as subject.

תפילת נשים בראש חודש מרחשון תש"פ

יום ג' 29-10-2019 ל' תשרי 8:30 בבוקר

שילה הקדומה, תל שילה

כולן מוזמנות

פרטים נוספים

shilohmuse@gmail.com subject: ראש חודש

Shiloh is the same Shiloh as appears in the Bible. It's where the Mishkan, Tabernacle was located for close to four hundred years. Shiloh is where the Biblical Chana prayed for a son who would be dedicated to work for the Jewish People in Shiloh.

Today Shiloh is a beautiful and well developed archaeological site. There's lots to see and do for visitors of all ages. For more information contact visit@telshilo.org.il. Shiloh Hakeduma is open weekdays and has special activities on Jewish Holidays. For more information click.

Join us for Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan Prayers!

Whether Weather? Which is Right?

I'm a bit of a nutcase. I'm super-highly sensitive to the weather. I'm horrendously phobic about housework and cleaning. I need just the right light and weather to clean my house. The sky must be clear and blue. I need the bright cheery weather to cheer me on.

Last week, when I checked the forecast app on my phone, I saw predictions of perfect pre-Pesach (pre-Passover) cleaning weather, even for my nutty standards. But this morning, when I looked at the sky, at what photographers call "Blue Hour," all I saw was a yellowy grey. I got gypped.

Could this be some temporary aberration?

Sitting at the computer, the view was even worse, and it wasn't just the dirty window panes.

So I checked the phone's weather app again.

IMHO that's a forecast for almost ideal weather.

There's another weather site on my computer, which is also calibrated to Shiloh, so I checked that one.

It predicts a different scenario. Which weather forecast is the correct one?

Adding to my mounting panic is that yellowy tinge I see in the sky. It's a clear sign of desert dust storms. That's a weather phenomenon we never experienced on Long Island.

During our first spring in Israel I learned about dust storms and sandstorms, when the clean wet laundry morphed into awful, sandy yellow dirty laundry after hanging outside on dry but yellow days. Days like today.

If I'm forecasting correctly, from the color of the sky, this may be a very difficult and challenging week to clean the house. Spring cleaning must be done when I can safely open up the windows and hang out lots of laundry. True Passover, Pesach cleaning can still be done. I don't need the outdoors all that much to clean the refrigerator, just good music.

So, now I must motivate myself, recalibrate to plan my pre-Pesach cleaning differently. And that also means that non-kitchen, non-chametz cleaning must be after Passover, when the skies are clear and dust-free.

Snow, Just a Puff of Wishful Thinking

For the past few days, the Israeli media was full of supposed "pre-snow" warnings. You'd think we were in for a major blizzard. The "snowplow" workers, salters, media yappers etc were all put on "snow alert" at who know how many times their normal salary to be ready for the deluge of white to blanket the roads, lawns and more.

last night's hail on the steps to my house

To my experienced, though untrained mind, the forecasts weren't predicting snow, just winds and hail. And to be perfectly honest, that's what we really got. The round little ice balls you can see in the picture on the right are hail, not snow. For snow the temperature must be an actual freezing minus, not a few degrees more, or just "wind chill factor" or "feels like."

It's that "chaos" of winds, when it feels much colder than it actually is, that cause/form hail. Hail, like you can see in the photo, are ice balls. Yes, those ice balls on roads can be very dangerous, more dangerous than dry snowflakes, which if not piled high, quickly melt under hot moving cars and their wide tires.

Between the strong winds and hail, being on the roads last night wasn't a good idea for small cars especially. And I ended up missing my granddaughter's performance in Ofra, which had me very upset and disappointed.

late last night

early this morning

This year's winter isn't over yet, and considering that some of our deepest and most long-lasting snows have fallen in the month of Adar, even around Purim, we still have a chance. Not that I want it to snow. I'd rather continue with rainy nights and sunny days.

When Will it Rain?

Here in Israel rain is rare. The rainy season is after the Jewish Holidays, usually starting some time in October, ending in March.  And even then we can have a couple of dry weeks or more. Droughts are common. Actually, we're suffering the effects of a shrinking Lake Kinneret (Galilee) and Dead Sea right now.

I'm not writing this to complain about the weather. It's just that I'm planning on going to Jerusalem and want to be "prepared." It's not all that cold, but should I bring a jacket, umbrella etc? The forecasts aren't clear. One says dry, and the other predicts rain.

Last night as the sun was setting

Today we expect +27..+20 °C, without precipitation, gentle breeze. Tomorrow: +25..+22 °C, without precipitation, gentle breeze. Weather site

Scattered Thunderstorms 26°17° 40% W 18 km/h 66%
Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. High 26C. Winds W at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 40%.  A different weather site

Before The Storm

Way back when, weather would take us totally by surprise. Sometimes we'd look at a sunset or sunrise and "predict" rain or dry weather, but the odds of our getting it right were about as bad as the weather forecasts on the news. This, of course, predated the internet, computers, smartphones and all the apps.

But in recent years, weather forecasts are sometimes spookily accurate, like when the app forecasts snow beginning to fall at 10am, and it actually does. So now people go totally bonkers "preparing" for forecasted rain storms, blizzards etc. Yes, even me.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to take the recycling garbage to our little neighborhood recycling "center." I noticed a neighbor there:

"Are you also here now instead of tomorrow?" I asked her.
"Yes, if it's going to be stormy, I don't want to leave my house." She answered.

Usually, I get rid of all the boxes, bottles etc right before Shabbat, on Friday afternoon, but I had no desire to go out in the rainstorm if there really was going to be one. Nor did I want all the "junk" to stay in the house.

And, yes, it is raining today, windy, too. I plan on staying home, and I'll do my walking by walking in the house. The forecast is for rain and wind until tomorrow afternoon or evening. Considering that we've had drought most winters in recent years, I'm not complaining. I just pray that our electricity with hold up, since we have no alternative for cooking, heating and light.

Shabbat Shalom U'Mevorach,
May You have a Peaceful and Blessed Sabbath

Rain! Winter's Back

Shabbat was such a spring-like day. On Friday when I took a walk I even spied an almond tree in bloom. The middle of the Jewish Month of Shvat, now, is when almond trees are supposed to flower, so we just made it.

These are actually two photos combined. See my Instagram page, shilohbatya

We'd been enjoying the break from winter weather and knew to expect winter's return this week. According to the forecast for Shiloh, the entire week will be rainy. 

It's winter, 

and we need rain, 

so can't complain.

But can still kvetch...

yes?

Just before the rain fell this morning

There was enough light from the dawn to make the returning raindrops look like diamonds on leaves and the chair.

Our merpeset, terrace, gets the extremes from all weather, since it's on the southern side of the house. The twenty 20 meters of clotheslines are fantastic for quickly and easily drying multiple loads of wash. When it snows, this is the side of the house that gets the most, though it is also the first to melt.

I have so many things planned for this week, which I hope to accomplish while sneaking past the raindrops. I may arm/protect myself by wearing my father's heavy Land's End winter coat, which we left here when moving him to Arizona.

Looking outside, through south-facing windows, it looks absolutely stormy.

shot with a flash

shot without the flash, plus a drop of "tint" editing

It's the Jewish Month of Shvat when the last of the heavy rains are supposed to fall in the Holy Land. May it be for a blessing, Gd willing.

Scorcher Predicted Today--Advice on Staying Healthy

Trusty companion on a day like today

• Today

  100°f High81°f Low
 

• Mon

  100°f High76°f Low
  
  

Yes, it's supposed to be one hundred degrees fahrenheit. This is the day we must schlepp around large bottles of cold water and keep on drinking and refilling and drinking even more. Though according to my Shiloh weather page, it will get cooler in a couple of days.

Today we expect plus 27—39 °C , without precipitation, gentle breeze. Tomorrow: plus 38—31 °C , without precipitation, gentle breeze. 

Sunday May 15										Monday May 16																Tuesday May 17																Wednesday May 18
Local time	09		12		15		18		21		00		03		06		09		12		15		18		21		00		03		06		09		12		15		18		21		00		03		06
Cloudiness, %
Weather phenomena
Temperature, °C	+31		+37		+38		+36		+29		+26		+25		+24		+32		+38		+37		+31		+25		+23		+23		+21		+24		+29		+29		+22		+19		+17		+17		+17
Pressure, mmHg	692		693		690		690		689		688		687		688		688		690		688		688		689		688		688		689		689		690		689		689		689		689		689		689
Wind: speed ,  m/s	2		4		4		2		3		2		2		1		2		2		4		5		3		3		3		1		4		2		4		4		3		3		2		1
gusts, m/s	5		8		10														7		12		8												8		11
direction, compass points	S		SE		S		W		NW		NW		N		SE		S		SW		NW		NW		NW		NW		NW		W		W		NW		NW		NW		NW		NW		N		W
Humidity, %	15		17		18		19		27		17		29		16		8		15		20		30		35		29		36		56		39		26		26		38		50		53		56		56
Sun rise / set			05:40				19:29										05:40		19:30														05:39		19:31								05:38		19:31
Moon rise / set			13:53				02:05										14:46		02:39														15:39		03:11								16:31		03:44
phase

It seems hotter in fahrenheit. But regardless of how you measure it, this is going to be  a very hot day, ditto for tomorrow. I suggest keeping partially filled bottles of water in the freezer which you fill with tap water when you take them out to drink. And just keep drinking water. And if you normally don't eat any foods with added salt, this is the day to salt a bit, because the salt keeps the water balanced in your body. That does not mean to oversalt, but under-salting can really be dangerous.  So even people like myself add a bit of coarse salt to my morning eggs. And again, water is the thing to drink, not sweetened stuff nor even too much coffee/tea which can cause too much "elimination."

HYDRATE!

And also stay in the shade by wearing a large brimmed hat, and wear loose clothes to cover so you won't burn.