Late winter rains over the weekend put a small dent in Israel's massive water deficit, giving the Jewish state a very small amount of breathing room to advance solutions to what is expected to turn into a full-scale crisis later this year.

Heavy thunder storms dumped rain on all parts of Israel over the weekend, and several feet of snow blanketed Mount Hermon in the northern Golan Heights.

One of the more immediate results of the rainfall was the rise of the Sea of Galilee by nearly 8 inches in just 48 hours.

The current winter has been so dry that the Sea of Galilee last month fell below its bottom black line, preventing the possibility of pumping any more water from Israel's largest fresh water reservoir for the remainder of the year.

The rains are expected to continue until Tuesday.