The Daily Star, 7/1/2015
A snow storm sweeping the Levant region cut off roads across Lebanon Wednesday, including the international Beirut-Damascus highway, isolating large areas in the north and east of the country.
The state-run National News Agency said heavy snow blocked the vital highway at Dahr al-Baidar, cutting off the Bekaa Valley from the rest of the country, as the stormed intensified Wednesday morning.
Hail also fell in Beirut where the temperature dropped to less than 6 degrees, a rare occurrence in the capital.
The storm caused extensive damage to fruit crops, in particular banana and citrus, across regions in the north and the south.
Most mountain roads in the northern province of Akkar and some roads in the highlands of Dinnieh were blocked by snow and were only passable for vehicles equipped with metal chains, the NNA said.
Waves of up to 3 meters high off the coast of Lebanon’s southern-most port city carried little stones and pebbles onto the streets. The storm also broke several shop windows in Tyre.
Rough winds and heavy rains shuttered ports and briefly halted air traffic at Beirut, as the country braced for what is expected to be several more days of heavy winter weather.
Flights at Beirut’s airport resumed after being briefly suspended Tuesday night due to a powerful storm sweeping through Lebanon, a source at the airport said.
The source told The Daily Star operations gradually returned to normal at Rafik Hariri International Airport after storm warnings delayed the arrival of five flights between 6-8 p.m.
The violent storm with strong winds and heavy hail and rainfall, which is expected to last until Sunday, prompted Education Minister Elias Bou Saab to order the closure of schools across the country Wednesday.
The minister told Voice of Lebanon radio station that if the intensity of the storm continued, he would also cancel classes for Thursday.
Elsewhere, Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip declared a state of emergency over the storm. An 8-month-old Palestinian infant in the Tulkarem refugee camp was killed in a fire caused by a heating stove, Palestinian civil Defense Ministry said.
Snow accumulated in the Golan Heights and northern Israel. Schools across occupied Jerusalem closed ahead of a forecast warning of 25 centimeters of snowfall.
In Syria, snow blanketed Qassioun Mountain, which overlooks Damascus. The snowfall also brought traffic to a near standstill in the capital and prompted the Education Ministry to close schools and universities for two days.
Photo: A man holds an umbrella as he walks through a snow-covered street in Baalbek, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. (The Daily Star/Nidal Solh) - See more at: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Jan-07/283235-flights-resume-at-beirut-airport-after-storm-delay.ashx#sthash.1QdWfHK8.dpuf