Today the Weather Channel announced their winter storm names for the 2012-2013 season, and I couldn’t help but notice all the names were… ghoulish. Maybe it was the grim reaper snowman that TWC included on their homepage. The Weather Channel talked about the importance of naming storms, believing that it promotes “awareness” of the serious weather conditions. It also promotes TERROR!!! In Rhode Island, when we talk about big storms of yesteryear we talk about the somewhat benign sounding Hurricane Bob, which sounds kind of like a friendly uncle. Or The Blizzard of ‘79, which sounds vague and far removed. We didn’t name our blizzards after Mongolian conquerors, Norse gods, Shakespearean villains, or the Latin word for “nobody.” (!!!)
Here is the full list, courtesy of TWC.
So, as mentioned, let’s go back to the Blizzard of ‘79. The Weather Channel acknowledged that yes, traditionally, winter storms aren’t named, but they are willing to be the trailblazers with this new list, which they believe will make discussing the storm easier for everybody. For example: KHAN IS SWEEPING THE TRISTATE AREA.
I think they just want funny hashtags.
