For the past few days I couldn't shake the feeling that I was forgetting something. Then, as I heard a couple of residents here at Hillcrest Village talk about the upcoming winter, it dawned on me -- I haven't looked at the Weather Channel's latest Winter Storm Names! The Weather Channel has also included the definitions for each name, but I didn't include most of those...(but I did stick in a few comments!) The List Ajax -- isn't there a bathroom cleaner by that name? Bella Cara Delphi Echo Ferus Goliath -- how much do you wanna bet this will be the weakest storm? Hera Ilias Jonas Kayla Lexi Mars Nacio -- short for Ignacio Olympia Petros Quo Regis Selene Troy Ursula -- Can't she be satisfied with being the villian in "The Little Mermaid"? Vexo -- Latin for "I annoy" or "I harass" Waylon -- Smithers has a dark side! Xenos Yolo -- As in YOLO, the annoying abbreviaion for You Only Live Once that annoying idiots yell before doing something dangerous Zandor

Most of my fellow northern climate dwellers usually make fun of these snowstorm names because we think its stupid to name them in the first place.

Naming storms can backfire, too. With hurricanes, they find that if they use a female name, people underestimate the warnings and get hurt or killed.

I can understand naming hurricanes because hurricanes don't happen that often and they're particularly brutal. But the criteria they use to determine if its a snowstorm, well, that happens most of the time in the winter. Maybe it's because I live on the Great Plains and I'm used to blizzards and stuff, but it seems like a bunch of hype about something that isn't that bad. Snowstorm Yolo? Oh, I hope they don't get that far down the alphabet.

That is a bit odd. We don't tend toward snowstorms so much where I am so I hadn't even noticed they were naming them.

The reason hurricanes (typhoons, cyclones, etc.) are named is that it's easier and quicker for different weather services to communicate the location of the storm. At one time, a weather service would "name" a storm using its latitude and longitude that they first saw it; often the same storm would get several names and would cause confusion. (Plus it would be really hard for ordinary folk to grasp the seriousness of the situation -- naming a hurricane makes it an advisary.) Now, the whole idea of naming winter storms is strictly a Weather Channel ploy to sound like the ultimate weather authority and, hopefully, get more viewers. (Part of me is surprised that this thing has lasted so long.)

It's stupid. All I care about is will it hit my area and with how many inches.

I'm just glad we don't have to worry about named storms where we live. One day, we'll have an earthquake, and then you guys can point fingers at us.

Originally posted by ChrisW That is a bit odd. We don't tend toward snowstorms so much where I am so I hadn't even noticed they were naming them.

This was something the Weather Channel took upon themselves to do for winter storms. My guess is for hype and ratings. My local TV stations do a better job of warning me about bad weather without actually naming them.

Originally posted by Transmute Jun One day, we'll have an earthquake, and then you guys can point fingers at us.

What, you think we aren't pointing fingers at you already?

Originally posted by ElectricWhite

Originally posted by Transmute Jun One day, we'll have an earthquake, and then you guys can point fingers at us.

What, you think we aren't pointing fingers at you already?

Watch out. Some famous scientist claims there will be a major quake in California in the next 3 years.

They're always claiming a major quake is coming.

I like to check a site that keeps track of earthquakes. In 2007, we visited Yellowstone. About a month later, they started having swarms of earthquakes at 3 or lower. It lasted for several months. Couldn't help but think about the fact its a giant caldera letting off steam. Right now the hotspot for earthquakes in the US is Oklahoma. They're blaming fracking and drilling for natural gas.

Is it just me or do the names all look like they are from Inquisitors in Warhammer 40K? All that faux greek and neolatin?

Becky: Yes, swarms of small quakes are definitely preferable to big ones. Unfortunately, a number of studies have shown that fracking leads to more quakes.