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 October 10, 2022:[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
6 17 39 43 57 26 11 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
Athena Atlas Astro Ajax Argos Aiden Avery Aubrey Abigail Atticus Alejandra Archer
Brutus Boreas Bozeman Bella Blanche Benji Bruce Bessie Billy Bankston Beck Bryson
Caesar Cleon Cato Cara Caly Chloe Carter Caleb Constance Carrie Carli Cait
Draco Dion Damon Delphi Decima Dylan Diego Dorothy Dane Delphine Diaz Donovan
Euclid Electra Eris Echo Europa Ethan Eboni Ezekiel Eartha Elmer Elliott Ember
Freyr Falco Frona Ferus Fortis Frankie Fisher Finley Flynn Frida Fernando Finn
Gandolf Gemini Gorgon Goliath Gregory Grayson Gia Gage Gail Garrett Gael Gerri
Helen Hercules Hektor Hera Helena Hunter Harper Henry Harold Hatcher Hudson Heather
Iago Ion Iola Ilias Iras Inga Indra Isaiah Ivy Izzy Iggy Indigo
Jove Janus Juno Jonas Jupiter Jaxon Jayden Jacob John Jasper Jimenez Jarvis
Khan Kronos Kari Kayla Kari Kalani Kai Kade Katherine Kenan Kassandra Kayden
Luna Leon Linus Lexi Leo Liam Lucian Lamont Lana Landon Leona Lorraine
Magnus Maximus Marcus Mars Maya Mateo Maya Mabel Malcolm Miles Mara Miguel
Nemo Nika Neptune Nacio Niko Noah Nadia Nash Nathaniel Nancy Nova Noor
Orko Orion Octavia Olympia Orson Oliver Oren Odell Orlena Oaklee Olive Orzelle
Plato Pax Pandora Petros Pluto Polly Petra Pearl Peggy Phyllis Piper Preston
Q Quintus Quantum Quo Quid Quinn Quiana Quincy Quade Quinlan Quest Qadir
Rocky Rex Remus Regis Reggie Riley Ryan Ruth Roland Rachel Ricardo Ronnie
Saturn Seneca Sparta Selene Stella Skylar Scott Sadie Shirley Silas Sage Sawyer
Triton Titan Thor Troy Theseus Toby Taylor Thatcher Tabitha Tad Taylor Tormund
Ukko Ulysses Ultima Ursula Ursa Uma Ulmer Upton Uri Usher Uriel Unitas
Virgil Vulcan Venus Vevo Valerie Violet Vaughn Veronica Viola Vega Vanessa Victoria
Walda Wiley Wolf Waylon Wyatt Wilbur Wesley Wyatt Ward Willow Wayne Winton
Xerxes Xenia Xander Xenos Xavier Xanto Xyler Xandra Xylia Xandy Xar Xenops
Yogi Yona Yuli Yolo Yuri Yvonne Yvette Yates Yardley Yeager Yvette Yoshino
Zeus Zephyr Zeus Zandor Zeno Zoey Zachary Zachariah Zane Zion Zariah Zyler
Achilles*

[7][1][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][5][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. ↑ "Why Your Weatherman Is Protesting the Name 'Nemo' - National". The Atlantic.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Weather Channel Decision to Name Winter Storms Will Increase Confusion in Delivering Critical Safety Information to Public". AccuWeather.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Science Behind Naming Winter Storms at The Weather Channel". weather.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Erdman, Jonathan (October 10, 2022). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2022-23". weather.com.
  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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ↑ Rice, Doyle (October 18, 2016). "Ready for Winter Storm Blanche? Weather Channel releases list of storm names". USA Today.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ↑ "Winter Storm Names For 2017-18 Revealed". weather.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ "Winter Storm Names for 2019-20 Revealed". weather.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ↑ "Winter Storm Names for 2020-21 Revealed | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com". weather.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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