Winter storm names

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The Weather Channel has named winter storms since late 2012. While colloquial storm names have been in use since the 18th century, The Weather Channel introduced an organized list of storm names throughout the season, in a manner similar to those used for tropical cyclones.

The Weather Channel cited the ease of following the progress of a named storm, including discussion in social media, as a key factor in its decision to start assigning storm names.[1] The idea generated significant controversy in the meteorological community, with the National Weather Service asking its forecasters to avoid using the names. NWS spokesperson Susan Buchannan stated, "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."[2] AccuWeather President Joel Meyers called the idea "not good science and importantly will actually mislead the public", citing many of the same objections as the NWS.[3]

initially, The Weather Channel kept the exact strategy for naming storms and list of criteria proprietary, stating that the assessment process involves several factors that attempt to categorize a storm's impacts, including snowfall and ice amounts, wind speeds, temperatures, and the time of day and day of the week that a storm is expected to impact.[1] In 2013, The Weather Channel started using NWS alerts as the criteria for naming a storm.[4] The criteria, still in use in 2021, were NWS winter storm, blizzard, or ice storm warnings covering at least a population of 2 million or an area of 400,000 square kilometers.[5]

In 2015, The Weather Channel stated that a committee of three meteorologists (Tom Niziol, Stu Ostro, and Jonathan Erdman) were responsible for deciding if a system was named.[4]

Statistics

All statistics below as of December 9, 2025:[6]

  • Average number of named storms per season: 21
  • Earliest named storm: Atlas (October 3, 2013)
  • Latest named storm: Valerie (May 18, 2017)
Number of named storms by month
October November December January February March April May
8 25 44 59 71 39 13 4

List of storm names

Storm names used by the Weather Channel
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
Athena Atlas Astro Ajax Argos Aiden Avery Aubrey Abigail Atticus Alejandra Archer Anya Alston
Brutus Boreas Bozeman Bella Blanche Benji Bruce Bessie Billy Bankston Beck Bryson Blair Bellamy
Caesar Cleon Cato Cara Caly Chloe Carter Caleb Constance Carrie Carli Cait Cora Chan
Draco Dion Damon Delphi Decima Dylan Diego Dorothy Dane Delphine Diaz Donovan Demi Devin
Euclid Electra Eris Echo Europa Ethan Eboni Ezekiel Eartha Elmer Elliott Ember Enzo Ezra
Freyr Falco Frona Ferus Fortis Frankie Fisher Finley Flynn Frida Fernando Finn Freya Fern
Gandolf Gemini Gorgon Goliath Gregory Grayson Gia Gage Gail Garrett Gael Gerri Garnett Gianna
Helen Hercules Hektor Hera Helena Hunter Harper Henry Harold Hatcher Hudson Heather Harlow Hernando
Iago Ion Iola Ilias Iras Inga Indra Isaiah Ivy Izzy Iggy Indigo Iliana Iona
Jove Janus Juno Jonas Jupiter Jaxon Jayden Jacob John Jasper Jimenez Jarvis Jett Joseline
Khan Kronos Kari Kayla Kari Kalani Kai Kade Katherine Kenan Kassandra Kayden Kingston Kadence
Luna Leon Linus Lexi Leo Liam Lucian Lamont Lana Landon Leona Lorraine Lola Louise
Magnus Maximus Marcus Mars Maya Mateo Maya Mabel Malcolm Miles Mara Miguel Marisol Maizie
Nemo Nika Neptune Nacio Niko Noah Nadia Nash Nathaniel Nancy Nova Noor Nyla Nell
Orko Orion Octavia Olympia Orson Oliver Oren Odell Orlena Oaklee Olive Orzelle Omari Obie
Plato Pax Pandora Petros Pluto Polly Petra Pearl Peggy Phyllis Piper Preston Pascale Peyton
Q Quintus Quantum Quo Quid Quinn Quiana Quincy Quade Quinlan Quest Qadir Quentin Quigley
Rocky Rex Remus Regis Reggie Riley Ryan Ruth Roland Rachel Ricardo Ronnie Roman Rodrigo
Saturn Seneca Sparta Selene Stella Skylar Scott Sadie Shirley Silas Sage Sawyer Spencer Santiago
Triton Titan Thor Troy Theseus Toby Taylor Thatcher Tabitha Tad Taylor Tormund Theo Tyrese
Ukko Ulysses Ultima Ursula Ursa Uma Ulmer Upton Uri Usher Uriel Unitas Usman Ulma
Virgil Vulcan Venus Vevo Valerie Violet Vaughn Veronica Viola Vega Vanessa Victoria Vincenzo Viviana
Walda Wiley Wolf Waylon Wyatt Wilbur Wesley Wyatt Ward Willow Wayne Winton Wilhelm Wolfgang
Xerxes Xenia Xander Xenos Xavier Xanto Xyler Xandra Xylia Xandy Xar Xenops Xia Ximena
Yogi Yona Yuli Yolo Yuri Yvonne Yvette Yates Yardley Yeager Yvette Yoshino Ygenny Yashi
Zeus Zephyr Zeus Zandor Zeno Zoey Zachary Zachariah Zane Zion Zariah Zyler Zahir Zeb
Achilles*

[7][1][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][5][18][19][20][6]

Note: An italicized name in the list above represents a storm name that was announced but not used. An asterisk beside the name represents a name that was added after the initial list was announced.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Why The Weather Channel is Naming Winter Storms - weather.com". weather.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ Greenfield, Rebecca (February 8, 2013). "Why Your Weatherman Is Protesting the Name 'Nemo' - National". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Weather Channel Decision to Name Winter Storms Will Increase Confusion in Delivering Critical Safety Information to Public". AccuWeather. October 3, 2012. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Niziol, Tom (October 13, 2015). "The Science Behind Naming Winter Storms at The Weather Channel". weather.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Erdman, Jonathan (December 9, 2021). "It's Winter Storm Season Already. Here Are the Winter Storm Names For 2021-22 | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com". weather.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Belles, Jonathan; Erdman, Jonathan (October 8, 2025). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2025-26". Weather.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Winter 2012-13: Named Storms from A to... - weather.com". weather.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Winter Storm Names 2013-14: What They Are and What They Mean - weather.com". Archived from the original on October 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Winter Storm Names 2014-2015: What They Are and What They Mean". Archived from the original on December 31, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Winter Storm Central". weather.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014.
  11. ↑ Rice, Doyle (October 13, 2015). "From Ajax to Zandor: Weather Channel releases list of winter storm names". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  12. ↑ Rice, Doyle (October 18, 2016). "Ready for Winter Storm Blanche? Weather Channel releases list of storm names". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Winter Storm Names For 2017-18 Revealed". weather.com. February 7, 2018. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  14. ↑ Brookbank, Sarah (January 18, 2019). "Winter Storm Harper: Why do winter storms have names?". Cincinnati Enquirer.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ↑ "The Weather Channel Announces Winter Storm Names for 2019-2020 Season". The Weather Group. October 3, 2019. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Winter Storm Names for 2019-20 Revealed". weather.com. October 3, 2019. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Winter Storm Names for 2020-21 Revealed | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com". weather.com. October 1, 2020. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  18. ↑ Erdman, Jonathan (October 10, 2022). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2022-23". weather.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  19. ↑ Erdman, Jonathan (October 24, 2023). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2023-24". Weather.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  20. ↑ Erdman, Jonathan (October 16, 2024). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2024-25". Weather.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
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