Blizzard for New England 2013

[Mike M]

Holy smokes! 

Might as well call it Hurricane Nemo

Or in further embellishment, Winturricane Nemo

xD

[Localonthe8s]

Or Superstorm Nemo :O Did anyone happen to see this pic out of Long Island?
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/427318_437329906350959_963496300_n.jpg

[Metarvo]

They're apparently catching just a little backlash over naming winter storms and particularly over this one being named Nemo.  No matter where the name came from, most people now seem to think of a Disney movie when they hear the name.  Furthermore, it seems as though the criteria for naming a winter storm is up for grabs.  Some people even think that other types of weather events will begin to be named following this logic.

[TWCCraig]

Under a freezing rain advisory. The snowpack from this blizzard will cause temps to be below freezing when the rain begins.

[Ice Man]

They're apparently catching just a little backlash over naming winter storms and particularly over this one being named Nemo.  No matter where the name came from, most people now seem to think of a Disney movie when they hear the name.  Furthermore, it seems as though the criteria for naming a winter storm is up for grabs.  Some people even think that other types of weather events will begin to be named following this logic.

They've been getting nitpicked over the storm-naming thing ever since it was first announced.

People are starting to get fed up with media sensationalism in general, no matter what it is. Ever since the buyout, and before the storm-naming, the amount of fear-mongering and hype surrounding even the potential of severe weather, went through the roof. I remember "OMG SNOWPOCALYPSE" and it was still a week before the storm was due (which of course did practically nothing to anyone).

TWC got further flak for it because the tried & true institutes of weather have been wanting no part of it. Coming up with a proper system for what snow storms are deserving of names is also very difficult because what makes a memorable winter storm is so much more ambiguous than a Hurricane. What is called major snow for one location is laughable for another. And then there's the ice storm element to consider, and the type of snow. A foot of snow at 20 degrees is a big inconvenience. Drop that same amount of snow when the temperature is 34 degrees and you've got major power outages and roads blocked for possibly days.

Hurricanes though... severe winds are severe winds no matter where you live. The same goes for flooding. It also helps that they always have a well-defined eye, and therefore a specific location where you can always get an accurate reading on the maximum wind speed.

Personally, I always wanted winter storms to get proper naming. But even as an impulsive little kid, I never thought it would happen like this. I saw it as more of a "wait and see" method, which was typically what TWC did back in the day. Some major storms had TWC bringing out special editions of winter weather reports. But when I REALLY knew that a storm had earned itself a name, was when TWC created custom graphics for it and gave it a generic title such as "Superstorm 93" (shameless plug).

[TWCToday]

You know as much as people criticize over TWC naming winter storms, its actually working. I watched several major newscasts on CNN, ABC, and various other shows on other networks following the event. All of them mentioned "nemo" when referring to the storm. The Weather Channel has been able to influence other networks and millions of people into using the name. Even if you don't agree with the decision you have to admit how successful it has been in terms of marketing.

Some of you are blowing the naming thing way out of proportion too. With the NHC you have a world recognized, government scientific organization assigning a name to a storm. In this case you have a cable news station naming a winter storm. Its not supposed to be exact or meet the criteria of quality that the NHC uses. Nobody is expecting that. Its simply a means to better reference events. Why aren't people in an uproar about Tor:Con? Thats a proprietary system used by The Weather Channel to give a threat level to severe events. It specifically circumvents the forecasts put out by the SPC/NOAA in favor for their own.

[Ice Man]

You know as much as people criticize over TWC naming winter storms, its actually working. I watched several major newscasts on CNN, ABC, and various other shows on other networks following the event. All of them mentioned "nemo" when referring to the storm. The Weather Channel has been able to influence other networks and millions of people into using the name. Even if you don't agree with the decision you have to admit how successful it has been in terms of marketing.

Marketing doesn't exactly work though if everyday folks don't know who is giving the name to storms. Unless a little copyright TWC logo appears on screen every time someone from another media outlet uses the names (or they have to pay a royalty every time they say it).

Why aren't people in an uproar about Tor:Con? Thats a proprietary system used by The Weather Channel to give a threat level to severe events. It specifically circumvents the forecasts put out by the SPC/NOAA in favor for their own.

Heh. I actually rolled my eyes when I first saw Tor:Con. And I have a much worse opinion about it than I do about storm naming (which is more or less a mixed bag of precipitation). Maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seemed like they were trying to capitalize on the shock value of Defcon. Defcon is a very serious matter, tied in with the threat of Earth being turned into a fireball.

Why it has gotten less flak than storm naming, I don't know. Maybe people are just fed up with EVERYTHING in the realm of human consciousness being a marketing scheme.

[Mike M]

All people I've spoken to from my local media outlets still say TWC's naming convention for winter storms is insane.

[phw115wvwx]

If TWC coordinated with more people and provided a transparent naming criteria before implementing this idea, then I feel everyone would have reacted more positively.  I get the point of identification for research and history after the fact, but it seems to be a distraction before the event happens.  I'm worried that everyone will start wanting a name and classification scale for every weather system imaginable to where we're so focused on it rather than what the particular system could do to ruin property and lives.

Look at all the snow, wind, power outages, and deaths that occurred just from this blizzard.  We should be paying way more attention to the threats that storms pose, not so much the name or classification.  The goals are to learn what went right and wrong, how to forecast the next one better, and how to make people respond properly to save lives and property in the future.  TWC, NWS, the media, and anyone else in the meteorological community all should share this role.  Anyway, I think we should head back on topic here as this blizzard was quite significant for New England.