Vol. 68, No. 2 * Pages 58–116 * April 2023

In December, 2022. cyclone Elliott caused extremely cold and snowy weather in Canada and in the USA. The storm caused significant damages, and causalities. Comparing with similar cases this storm belonged to the top severe winter events. In this paper the large scale circulations and some local extremes of the storm are presented.

The heating degree day is an indicator of weather-dependent energy consumption. We analyse this measure for the whole area of Hungary since the beginning of the last century until today (1901–2021). In addition to the countywide analysis, results are also presented for a few selected measuring sites. We also include figures comparing the degree-day values with the long-term average for the current 2022/2023 heating season, which can be characterized by mild weather. Overall, annual and monthly heating degree-day totals have decreased across the country in accordance with the warming trend. The largest decreases appear in mountainous areas and in western parts of Hungary. The decrease of the heating degree days is statistically significant in all regions of the country since the beginning of the 20th century.

In December 2022, the ISO 9001 certified quality management system of Hungarian Meteorological Service just turned 20 years old. Two decades ago, OMSZ was the first among the European national meteorological services, and the third in the world, to introduce the quality management system in its entire field of professional activity. At the time, it was not yet known how successful this would be. In the time that has passed since then, it has been proven that the quality management system provides useful support for professional processes.

Hungarian Meteorological Service had to react to the changing habits in the social media. Besides this, in September 2018 a new job role called „interaktiv” was started at the forecasting department. The primary goal of the team is to present meteorological information and forecasts to the public with a modern graphical display on the social media. In addition, another important objective is to break down stereotypes about the profession and present the activities of the service.