Up to two inches of rain drenched the Haifa area Wednesday night and Thursday morning following a light drizzle Tuesday, when Jews began adding to prayer a reminder that the Almighty "causes the winds to blow and the rains to fall."

In two weeks, Israelis add to daily prayers a request for rain, which Jews in the Diaspora add on December 4.

The scattered thunderstorms in the north are the first heavy rains of the season and have not come too soon for the parched country, which has suffered four straight years of below-average precipitation. The extended drought has left the country's water resources seriously depleted.

The underground aquifer system, which supplies more water to Israel than the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), is in danger of salinization from low water levels. The Kinneret has dropped a whopping 5.41 meters (18 feet) below the level at which dams would have to be opened to prevent flooding to the beachside city of Tiberias. The last time the dams were opened was in 1992.

The Kinneret has dropped 1.56 meters since its low point at the beginning of last winter and is 1.24 meters under the "red line," which serves as warning that lower levels will endanger the quality of water and the ability to continue pumping.

The welcome rains in the north may spread to the central region Thursday, and occasional light drizzle may reach as far south as the northern Negev on Friday.

After a dry Sabbath, a large weather system is expected to arrive in Israel and bring with it rainfall over most of the country by Monday and Tuesday.

Long-term forecasts for the winter are mixed. European models indicate that Israel will suffer a lack of rain for a fifth year, but American weather models suggest a wetter-than-usual winter.