For the first time, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) lost just 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) of water over the dry season, Israel Hayom reported.
Previous years saw an average dip of 1.6 meters (63 inches) each summer.
The 2018-2019 rainy season saw unusually heavy precipitation, including into May, leading the Kinneret to rise over twice the usual amount. However, the dry summer season offered an additional surprise, with a meter less water evaporating due to the heat and sun.
Yehuda Nitzani, who was born, raised, and lives on Kibbutz Kinneret and has worked in the lake's management for 20 years, told Israel Hayom: "We went through an entire summer, and we're already in November, and to this day the floor of the island is still under water, with just the plants showing through."
"I was born, raised, and grew up here, and I don't remember the Kinneret's level ever dropping so little over the course of a summer."
Israel Hayom noted that even though the Kinneret has seen better winters, those winters were not followed by such gentle summers: In the summer of 2013, the Kinneret dropped 1.5 meters, and in the summer of 2003, it dropped 90 centimeters. In 1992, after a winter during which the Kinneret almost overflowed, the lake dropped 77 cm. Only one summer, exactly 50 years ago, saw the Kinneret lose just 61 centimeters - one more than this summer.