ESV Job [Iyov] 38:22“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?

Orthodox Jewish Bible – Job 38:22 Hast thou entered into the otzrot (storehouses) of the snow? Or hast thou seen the otzrot of barad (hail),

23 Which I have reserved for the time of tzar, for the yom kerav (battle) and milchamah (war)?

BTW, tzar means being in a “distress or being in a tight, constricting place”.

http://galileegreen.com/snow-cause-for-celebration/

The Land of Israel is dependant on rain for God’s blessing. The sages consider rain a gift of God’s “Chesed” – lovingkindness. Water is the life-giving and life-sustaining force and it is given in a form that is immediately useful.

Snow, however, is “Frozen water,” and is not immediately useful. We don’t see it as a sign of Chesed. It actually is a sign of Divine Justice or Judgement. God is ‘holding back” (Gevura) part of the blessing of the water.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31550536

20 February 2015 Last updated at 08:08 ET

In pictures: Snow blankets the Middle East

A rare cold front swept through the middle east on Thursday and Friday, blanketing parts of Israel, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon with snow.

Roads in and out of Jerusalem were closed and streets deserted in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

The snow covered large swathes of desert, and Jerusalem’s famous western wall and Bethlehem’s nativity church were sprinkled with white.

The Syrian capital Damascus and surrounding mountains also got snow, while a snowstorm in neighbouring Lebanon closed most mountain roads, isolating villages.

Snow covers the area around the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane, east Jerusalem.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31538987

In Toronto, a three-year-old boy died after being lost for hours wearing only a T-shirt, diaper and boots.

Elijah Marsh was found a few hundred metres away from his home in -2F (-19C) temperatures but died in hospital.

Bitter temperatures have also partially frozen Niagara Falls

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/02/14/blizzard-conditions-expected-during-valentines-day-weekend-storm/

The winter of 2014-2015 continues to be historical, records fall with each and every storm. This event will undoubtedly take us to more places never before seen in more than 120 years of record keeping. It is mind boggling just how much snow has fallen in such a short period of time, which bears the question, how much more can we possibly take? How much more could our atmosphere possibly have left? And unfortunately there are no answers to those questions just yet. One thing is certain beyond this storm, the cold is going nowhere. The next 1-2 weeks are going to remain frigid. This will likely be one of, if not the coldest February ever recorded. It is very possible that we could make it the entire month without one day above average. There is no significant snowmelt coming anytime soon.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/10/us/northeast-snow/

Folks in the Northeast are known for being tough, but three snowstorms in three weeks is wearing a bit thin.

http://www.weather.com/news/news/great-lakes-ice-cover-february-2015

Ice coverage on the Great Lakes reached 85.4 percent on Feb. 18, marking the second winter in a row that ice coverage has exceeded 80 percent. Of course, last year the Great Lakes went on to record their second highest total ice coverage in records dating to 1973.

As this graph from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory shows, the last time ice coverage was over 80 percent in back-to-back years was in the 1970s. Specifically, it happened three years in a row from 1977-1979. The long-term average peak ice coverage since 1973 has been about 51 percent.

On Feb. 22 ice coverage on the Great Lakes was 84 percent with ice concentration the highest on Lake Erie (95.72 percent), Lake Huron (95.55 percent) and Lake Superior (94.89 percent).

The ice coverage may continue to grow through the end of the month. Bitter cold temperatures are in place and the Climate Prediction Center branch of NOAA is forecasting a high likelihood of temperatures staying below average through the end of the month.

Will ice coverage reach last year’s peak of 92.5 percent? It’s not out of the question that it could get close considering last year’s peak was on March 6. We’ll be tracking this story over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned.