What’s in a name?
The Weather Channel’s maiden attempt at naming winter storms last year created so many head-scratchers, such as Freyr, Ukko, and Walda, that the cable network called in a bunch of high-school students to name this year’s snowstorms.
Students at Bozeman HS in Bozeman, Mont., bailed out the pros with a list of names drawn from Latin, as well as Greek and Roman mythology.
It was goodbye, Ukko (a Finnish weather god), and hello to Ulysses. Quintus replaced Q (named for the New York City subway train).
Instead of “Lord of the Rings” wizard Gandalf, there’s Gemini.
The list, edited and approved by TWC, debuted in October. The latest entry is Elektra, the weekend storm that dumped five inches of snow on New York City on Saturday, named after the mythical princess of Argos.
Not every weather watcher likes the winter name game. The National Weather Service, for instance, does not participate.
But TWC defends the practice as a way of helping people quickly communicate weather information.