Snow: Ready for 'Athena?'
The Weather Channel names first storm. Will anyone salute?
Snow: Ready for 'Athena?'
This won't matter much to people in Pittsburgh or even Harrisburg, but the Weather Channel has decreed that our imminent snowstorm merits a name, Athena.
Thus its controversial experiment to name winter storms in the tropical-storm tradition has begun.
The cable giant says that naming "makes communications and information sharing easier, enabling consumers to better understand forecasts."
Don't expect anyone else to honor TWC's convention, however.
In its own emphatic way, the government has said it wants no parts of it, and Joel Myers, the founder of Accu-Weather Inc., is still steaming about the concept.
Myers calls the winter-storm naming a "clever media device" that in the end could undermine the credibility of meteorologists.
He said Accu-Weather has looked at winter-storm naming, but, "We’ve always rejected it."
He argued that winter storms have little in common with their distant tropical cousins. For example, winter storms can have multiple centers, unlike tropical storms.
The government imposes a hard criterion for a named tropical storm -- peak winds of at least 39 m.p.h.
It would be all but impossible to establish such a criterion for a winter storm, Myers argued.
"Winter storms are totally different," Myers said. "The effects on different places are variable. It’s going to be random and arbitrary.
"Are you going to name an inch of slush?"
Promise to name one of the storms "Tonner" and the Tonner will buy into this naming scheme and promote it to his constituents.- What if they name one Genny after your beverage of choice?— jlcharles
- Good thinking jlcharles, "Genny" will also be accepted. Stay thirsty the Tonner's friend.
- Looks like Bolaris is consulting at The Weather Channel?
This Winter Storm naming BS got him run out of town the 1st time....— Lancer248 - they name any storm then, the insurance Co. can put a deductable on any and all claims submitted to them,,was done here Fl. for just that reason!!!— zimmy
- Athena! you should have seen her! but we won't let that storm defeat us! Athena! damn thats a catchy storm name, wooo! athena is sexy!— FunCakes
- anyone else notice that hat tony wood be wearing? that is fresh!— FunCakes
- It sells t-shirts and coffee mugs.
"I Survived (insert winter storm name her)!" underwear flies off the shelves!!!— CoettaGarner25 - Athena, maybe it's the financial future of the network. Maybe they better join the E E C now.— Peter of Manassas
- Lame. Won't last.— PhillySubsMac
Tony Wood has been writing about the atmosphere for The Inquirer for 26 years. E-mail Tony here. And read all his columns here.
