Is naming nor'easters a recent phenomenon? (1 Viewer)

efil4stnias

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I dont recall winter weather systems being named? ( im guessing since I dont live in NE, i dont regularly hear about them )

But it seems with Sandy, now Nemo, these systems are getting named? Has that always been the case?
 
If this article is correct, it is something that the media is doing but it is not official.

What's in a name? For the folks who forecast the weather, apparently a lot.

The National Weather Service said Wednesday it would not recognize The Weather Channel’s name for the nor’easter that is expected to hit the East Coast, which is still trying to recover from last week’s hurricane.

The Weather Channel, which decided to name winter storms, dubbed this one ‘Athena,’ perhaps after the Greek goddess of wisdom. Winds could already be felt kicking up along the coast Wednesday morning, but the storm is not considered to be nearly the threat of Sandy.

The National Weather Service released a statement that it does not use the name of winter storms in its products. An email and phone call from FoxNews.com to the channel and agency were not immediately returned.

Read more: Weather Channel names nor'easter, National Weather Service says not so fast | Fox News
 
It is an exlcusive thing the weather channel does. They felt like winter storms should be named so people would take them more serious and so Mets would have an easier reference point to past storms.

Doo Doo smear if you ask me.
 
Same for Nemo:

You might not know it from all the Twitter chatter, but the blizzard that’s currently pummeling the East Coast is not called “Nemo” — at least not officially.

Nemo is just a name that The Weather Channel cooked up on its own, following a decision last year to start naming winter storms. The National Weather Service won’t acknowledge the name’s existence, and told the New York Times that it has no plans to name winter storms. Other organizations have also turned their noses up at the concept. “We’re not using that arbitrary name for the storm,” Jason Samenow, the Washington Post‘s weather editor, told Poynter. “It’s meaningless.”

Read more: Don
 
That sounds dumb. And it sounds like the weather channel is just trying to drum up views by making these systems "sound" more serious because they are named. They're just after advertising dollars.

Plus, it's the northeast, so if it's happening there it must be important. :rolleyes:
 
Well im curious because being a commercial insurance agent, we see plenty of property insurance policies that have "named storm" deductibles. Im not familiar with the NE, but would imagine some have the same language.

If all of a sudden, these storms start getting "named" and a policy holder has this language, he may end up losing on a higher % deductible instead of a flat $ deductible.

But now that you showed NOAA/NWS doesnt recognize, then it should be ok.
 
I imagine some boneheaded network suit came up with this idea (typical NBC) and the actual meteorologists at TWC must be trying hard to keep a straight face whenever they have to say it.

Is NBC News using these names, too? I haven't watched Nightly News in a while - I'm more of a CBS Evening News guy.
 
Cynical as it may be, they're aware the name recognition (and likely increase in viewers) that comes with named tropical storms and are trying to replicate that for winter events.

The things aren't remotely the same, of course, but we live in a kind of ****** culture of hype.
 
Cynical as it may be, they're aware the name recognition (and likely increase in viewers) that comes with named tropical storms and are trying to replicate that for winter events.

The things aren't remotely the same, of course, but we live in a kind of ****** culture of hype.

Naming a storm adds to the drama. Tropical storm Hannah sounds so much better than TD3012. Now they've added names to snow storms to get more of that dramatic effect.
 
Back when I was a kid in Connecticut, winter weather meant the occasional blizzard, nor'easter, or ice storm. Bad storms usually were identified with the year they happened (e.g. The Blizzard of '78, the Ice Storm of '73). This giving winter storms cutesy names is just dumb. Especially when a blizzard is named after a Pixar fish. Jim Cantore is out finding Nemo, freezing his butt off, and telling everyone to stay indoors. Please, just stop Weather Channel.
 
It's stupid, idiotic, and has the potential to cause some people grief when dealing with insurance claims, if their company decides that the Weather Channel is enough of an authority for them to get away with a higher dedictible. I didn't think I could be more disgusted with the Weather Channel, but when I found out that this whole idea of naming nor'easters was their idea...wow. They get more ridiculous and lose credibility every day.

And Sandy was an actual hurricane, named by the NHC, even though it eventually developed nor'easter-like characteristics, so there was credibility with the fact that this storm had a name...it was named before it even threatened the east coast. But naming the others...what a stupid attempt at ratings by TWC.
 
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I imagine some boneheaded network suit came up with this idea (typical NBC) and the actual meteorologists at TWC must be trying hard to keep a straight face whenever they have to say it.

Is NBC News using these names, too? I haven't watched Nightly News in a while - I'm more of a CBS Evening News guy.

This is purely a Weather Channel creation. And since NBC owns TWC, of course they'll go along with this ridiculousness.
 

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