WeatherBlog 2 2025/26 | Onset of winter and explosive cyclones

Current situation

After the high-pressure phase dissipated, heavy snowfall set in last week in a westerly flow in the western Alps. Meanwhile, the autumn storm "Joshua" intensified explosively in the Atlantic, officially referred to as "bombogenesis", and reached a core pressure of below 980 hPa. This brought hurricanes and a slight storm surge to the North Sea coast at the weekend. On the back of the storm, cold, moist air flowed south.

It rained in the lowlands and up to 30 cm of snow fell on the northern slopes of the Alps. The storm is now over and all those who made it to the snowy high altitudes yesterday were rewarded, as current ConditionsReports show. In summary, we can say that after two phases of precipitation in the western Alps and on the northern slopes of the Alps, the first powder snow reserves have formed. Winter has begun.

Hurricane "Melissa"

The hurricane season has been largely mild so far, with no category >2 hurricanes making landfall and therefore causing no significant damage. Since October 16, meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center have been observing a westward shifting convectively coupled tropical wave in the central Atlantic. It moved into the Caribbean and has been known as tropical storm "Melissa" since October 21. Quasi-stationary, driven by warm sea temperatures and unaffected by disturbing currents, it intensified rapidly ("rapid intensification"). On Tuesday, "Melissa" reached the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale (5) and a core pressure of 892 hPa with wind speeds of 295 km/h. Unfortunately, "Melissa" hit Jamaica with full force. Severe damage is to be expected and it is to be hoped that the protective measures will save many lives. "Melissa" will weaken as it makes landfall, but Cuba and Haiti are also in its forecast path.

Once again, all we can do is hope ...

Up-to-date information on "Melissa" can be found on tropicaltidbits and also on Wikipedia.