The Weather Channel has been adding catchy names to winter storms for a while now, but never really explained why.
- Promotional value?
- Winning bar bets by sneaking names onto the screen?
- Did winter storms win a lawsuit against hurricanes for greater publicity?
The truth is simpler than that.
The justification for naming the storms is that people track them and follow them more astutely.
If a blizzard comes through the Great Lakes, and is on the way to upstate New York, then people are more likely to do something if they make the connection.
“Expect 8-10 inches of snow on Monday” isn’t as motivational as “Winter Storm Lucius has already wreaked $1.5-billion of damage. Now Lucius is bringing his 8-10 inches into a helpless Buffalo.”
Yes — the entire comment was contrived to bring you that last sentence. But the rest is accurate.
Isn’t it also easier to refer to “Winter Storm Lucius” than “The winter storm that has been dropping feet of snow on Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio…”? That’s why I figured they did it.
It is easier to refer to it as such — but I thought it was fascinating that they were promoting this from a “public health” perspective. They didn’t go so far as to say it in those terms, but it was clearly all about giving viewers actionable information, with the hopes they would take steps to prepare.
I never recall hearing about a winter storm with a name before yesterday. The more you know…