What's the Deal With Naming Winter Storms?

The storm had barely begun when she already had two names — Juno and Colbie. The Weather Channel named the blizzard “Juno” after the Greek goddess who looked after the women of Rome.

WFSB named the blizzard Colbie, after singer Colbie Caillat. No explanation was given as to why, just that it was affectionately dubbed after the “Bubbly” singer.

The history of naming storms is a long one — well, at least the history of naming hurricanes is a long one.

Naming winter storms, however? That’s new, historically-speaking. And a little bit underground.

Hurricanes are named with the backing of the National Weather Service and the World Meteorological Association. But the naming of significant snowfall reportedly does not have support from The National Weather Service.

‘A Scientific Process’

In 2012, The Weather Channel started assigning names to significant winter storms and yes, there is a committee.

The Weather Channel’s winter storm expert, Tom Niziol, said there is a scientific process attached to naming storms. He said a team of three meteorologists have a conference call and decide to name significant storms.

“Here at The Weather Channel, one reason we’re doing this, simply put, is because we can,” Niziol said in a video detailing the process and theory of naming storms. “We cover weather on a national scale. By ascribing a name to a weather system that’s going to create those kind of weather impacts, we can follow it right across the country.”

He said he hopes that naming storms helps increase public awareness about the wintry weather.

In Defense of Named Winter Storms

“It’s simply easier to communicate about a complex storm if it has a name, which our naming program has demonstrated,” said Bryan Norcross, senior hurricane specialist at The Weather Channel. “Good communications benefits everyone.”

In Defense of Nameless Winter Storms

“So does WFSB and the Weather Channel have the right to name storms?” Patch reader and weather buff John Lyons once wrote. “Sure, I guess. But I wish they wouldn’t. They did not spend the billions of dollars to launch satellites to forecast the weather and have no interest other than strong ratings.”

• Do you like the naming of winter storms or wish it wouldn’t happen? We’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!

Related Coverage

• 48-Hour Power Outages Possible in Connecticut: Malloy
• How To Report Power Outages
• Governor Malloy Issues Travel Ban for Connecticut for Monday Evening
• Red Cross Offers Blizzard Preparation Safety Tips
• 2015 Blizzard: The Very Latest Information on What You Need to Know

Photo: Screengrab of The Weather Channel Video on naming storms