The Weather Channel has just announced it will starting giving names to major snowstorms this winter, just as hurricanes are named. The cable channel has already picked out an inaugural list, which includes names from Greek and Roman lore: Brutus, Caesar, and Zeus.
Officials with the Weather Channel say giving a blizzard a name will help people identify with the threat it poses. I can't say I can argue that logic. Who can forget the names of Hurricanes Andrew, Camille, or especially Katrina, which we all watched on TV as it bore down on the Gulf Coast in 2005? Giving a storm a name makes it easier to talk about and prepare for.
The Weather Channel does seem to get that the move would generate some snickering. In a voice over for the online video announcing the new naming system, the Weather Channel's Al Roker says, "it may seem gimmicky and fun, but the reasoning behind it is anything but that."
Gimmicky, yes. I can already imagine the catchy graphics on the Weather Channel this winter..."Et tu, Brute?" or "Zounds, it's Zeus!" Because if there's one thing we Americans do really well, it's assign catchy names to things. Snowmageddon, for example. Snowtober. Carmageddon. Brad-gelinna. RG III.
I am sure that if we get to Rocky the Blizzard this year, the introductory music will be the rousing theme song from the film, Rocky. Or, at the very least, the theme from Rocky and Bullwinkle.
The next blizzard covered by the Weather Channel will be named Athena.
On the web:
www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/why-we-name-winter-storms-20121001
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