The skies are darkening as Israel prepares for the first winter storm of 2015 — and its due to be a big one, with heavy snow forecast for the north and in Jerusalem.

There aren’t very many Israeli songs about snow but rain is a significant motif in Jewish liturgy — we pray for rain to fall during the winter season in the Land of Israel between Sukkot and Passover — as well as in contemporary Israeli poetry and song.

Here are a few of the best-loved Israeli rainy day songs.

Tfilat HaGeshem (Prayer for Rain) by children’s’ literature author and Israel Prize winner Levin Kipnis takes inspiration from the traditional prayer.

Shir HaGeshem (also Bo-u Ananim) (Rain Song or Come Clouds) by the poet Leah Goldberg, who authored many Hebrew children’s literature classics.

Evergreen folk singer Chava Albertstein singing Ach, Eize Horef (Oh, What a Winter)…

The prolific children’s’ author Datia Ben-Dor wrote Yeladim u’Mitriya (Children and An Umbrella). This version is performed by Dudu Zar on the long-running preschooler program Parpar Nechmad (Lovely Butterfly).

Perhaps most loved by all is Yehonatan Geffen’s lyrical Brakim u’Re’amim (Lightening and Thunder) from the 1970s classic book and album HaKeves HaShisha Asar (The 16th Sheep). Sometimes a dose of nostalgia is all you need to keep warm by on a chilly winter day. Enjoy.

For an extended list of winter songs (in Hebrew) , visit the Oranim Academic College of Education website.