How is it possible that a Hurricane such as Alex forms in the Atlantic in winter?
Alex was an out of season freak event that bucked the trend and broke all the rules. As hurricanes go, it was somewhat weak, and could never have strengthened beyond category 1. Three conditions made it happen (i) there was an unusually strong vortex over Cuba which kick-started the rotation, (ii) the high level atmospheric shear, which usually kills off fledgling hurricanes, just didn't appear on this occasion, (iii) the storm initially followed the Gulf Stream Drift, and hence gained energy from higher than usual sea surface temperatures - though still a lot cooler than normal. After the hurricane reached central north Atlantic it veered off to the northwest, where it met much colder sea-surface temperatures. It was this cold water that killed it off.