Ugh. Weather Channel Names Winter Storms Again. It's All About SEO

A snowstorm strikes Burlington, Vermont in
March, 2013. I honestly don't remember if
The Weather Channel named this winter storm.  

I totally agree with Mashable's assessment this morning that the Weather Channel's second go at naming winter storms is totally stupid.    

And the names are lousy, too.

Yes, I like the Weather Channel, too, and they do a lot of great things. (See: The show "Weather Geeks" for an example)

But as Mashable points out, this naming of winter storms is all about dominating social media with hashtags on Twitter to steer people toward The Weather Channel.

Many people in the general public used the hashtags when talking about last year's many winter storms, so the strategy to market The Weather Channel using lousy winter weather works for them, but I don't like it for other reasons.

Here's Mashable's take:

"Tom Niziol, the network's winter storm expert, has said the naming practice was started to help people focus on the threats these storms pose, given evidence showing that when they have names, people prepare for them more.

Niziol is a pro at forecasting winter weather, having honed his skills at the Buffalo office of the National Weather Service, where he became a world renowned authority on lake effect snow. However, he and his colleagues have stumbled when it's come to winter storm names, causing unnecessary friction between The Weather Channel and the National Weather Service."

Until The Weather Channel started naming winter storms, the only type of tempest that was named were tropical storms and hurricanes. At least with tropical storms, the criteria for naming them is firm. If it's a warm core storm that originates over the tropical ocean and has a sustained wind speed of 39 mph or more, it gets a name.

But how do you define a winter storm? Some people in the south might call a snow flurry a full fledged winter storm. (See: Atlanta, January, 2014. )

Meanwhile, some of us polar bears here in Vermont and other northern climes don't think it's a winter storm until the snow entirely buries our cars.   And what's the criteria for winter storms if you throw in wind, ice, subzero cold, or other factors?

My understanding is part of The Weather Channel's criteria for naming winter storms is whether they'll hit a populated area, but again, what's the criteria for populated area? My guess is it's partly wherever the media market will drive eyeballs to The Weather Channel.

Look, I appreciate The Weather Channel informing us when a winter storm looms, but let's leave the marketing out of it, and just tell us how much snow we're going to get, OK?

And some of those names! A lot of them are named for Greek or Roman gods, but us modern types think of these names differently.

The first of The Weather Channel's storms will be called Astro. I think of the dog on "The Jetsons" when I see that name. 

Then there's Bozeman, named for a high school Latin class in Bozeman, Montana. But what if this storm doesn't come near Montana, and hits someplace like Erie, Pennsylvania instead?

There's Linus, which is from Greek mythology, but everybody thinks of that Peanuts character with a blanket. Then again, if Linus turns out to be a particularly cold storm, the blanket might come in handy.

Toward the end of winter we'll get Winter Storm Venus, named for the goddess of love.  But if winter storm Venus strikes in the spring, when we're all sick of winter, I don't think there will be much love to go around.

What is the Weather Channel going to start naming next?  Up here in Vermont, we just finished off with several days of beautiful Indian Summer weather. Will bouts of pleasant conditions get names?

Did we just get through a weather system called, I don't know, Pleasant Weather Glorious?

This naming of weather conditions can really get out of hand. I think it already has.