04 February, 2010

Woke up this morning to snow on the ground on the Golan. Last night the wind was very strong and the rains fell with driving force in the lowlands - which lie about 680 feet below sea level. The highlands on the Golan and Mount Hermon received a great deal of snow. Camp Faouar lies somewhat in the middle of these two extremes in altitude - and is located on the Syrian side of the Area of Separation which separates Syria and Israeli Occupied Golan. The top of the mountain has a United Nations site we call Hotel Hermon. It is controlled by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and manned by Austrian mountain troops.

I have not heard anything yet, but I suspect they got a very large amount of snow dumped on them as they are at the very top of this tall mountain.

Mount Hermon was the site of the Transfiguration, where Jesus took three of His disciples, Peter, James, and John, up on a high mountain for prayer. This mountain marks the end of the Lebanon range. It has three peaks, of which the highest - Hermon - is 2,814 metres

The Camp itself received only a few centimetres of snow, but this will be enough to stop all local traffic for a couple of days due to the inexperience of many in dealing with snow. Then the mud will be a problem for a few days. Finally the snow will disappear, the mud will dry and the water will run down through the various channels to a multitude of man made resevoirs, where the water is stored for use during the long dry season. 

These pictures were supplied to me by a colleague who works with me at Camp Faouar. The first one was taken through the screen of her office as the snow was starting to slow down.

As the weather cleared and the sun came out there was a chance to actually take a pic of snow on one of the mini palms growing near the Austrian Officers mess. Not too often one sees snow on palm trees and palm plants.

The usual re-supply and inspection trips to the mountain Observation Posts are going to be a bit more difficult today. The Austrians are pretty darned good at moving around in the snow country though. Here they are chaining up the equipment to head out on the mountain roads. When equipment this size starts to chain up you know the roads are going to be tough travelling! In this country if anyone can do it - the Austrians can.