In the late 1800s, Australian forecaster Clement Wragge first started naming hurricanes after women and politicians with whom he disagreed.
Considering there are more than a few Coloradans who find blizzards disagreeable, the Weather Channel recently decided the frosty weather patterns are worthy of names, as well.
The network announced Tuesday that it will begin assigning monikers to winter storms this year. Why? Because a lot of folks are naming them anyway, the network says.
“On a national scale, the most intense winter storms acquire a name through some aspect of pop culture and now social media; for example, Snowmaggeddon and Snotober,” said Weather Channel winter weather expert Tom Niziol, referring to big snowstorms that have bothered the eastern seaboard.
FOX31 meteorologist Chris Tomer is skeptical about this new development, hypothesizing that east coast storms will more often get names than west coast storms. Tomer said it may also be a ploy by the Weather Channel to assert its authority.
The National Weather Service handles the universal naming of hurricanes, which began in the 1950s. The authoritative weather body has said nothing about whether or not it will support the naming of winter storms.
The Weather Channel said most of their winter storm names will be of Greek and Roman decent, with the first three being Athena, Brutus and Caesar.