Israel launches short-warning service for extreme weather events

Jerusale, July 13 (IANS) Israel has launched a new short-warning service for abnormal weather events, the Transport Ministry said.

The Israel Meteorological Service (IMS), a unit in the Ministry, will be responsible for providing the new service, including short-time alerts on storms, floods, heavy heat loads, and fires, the frequency of which has all increased following global climate change, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

It is part of a new detailed hourly forecast service for the next 24 hours, for 80 cities and towns, alongside 73 tourist sites throughout the country, including all national parks.

The Ministry stated that the information, which appears on the IMS website, is more accurate than global weather applications, thanks to local data collection alongside high-resolution regional simulations.

It added that the targeted information is especially important for emergency and rescue forces, as well as local authorities during periods of extreme weather.