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TWC going to name winter storms this winter


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Really? I mean, I'm no social scientist, but I'm pretty sure it's easier to talk about Hurricane Isaac than the HurricaneInTheCaribbeanThatMightComeIntoTheGulfNextWeek

Sounds good but wouldn't they say, "Hurricane Isaac is in the Caribbean and will probably move into the Gulf next week". A lot less difference.

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Sounds good but wouldn't they say, "Hurricane Isaac is in the Caribbean and will probably move into the Gulf next week". A lot less difference.

More importantly we have a defined set of parameters for tropical systems. This just seems subjective and designed to build hype.

$5 says they're not naming a snow event in the Dakotas unless it's > a foot, but they'll name a quick moving clipper that drops 3" on Jersey. That's the part that doesn't pass the sniff test to me.

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I don't get how this would work... Does it only apply to EC storms - what about storms that leave 3'+ in the Sierras but nothing elsewhere? What about storms that are rain below a certain altitude? If you're going to start naming winter storms in advance, it seems like that practice would inevitably have to spread to storms 'on the margins' that are rain events in the big cities, but heavy snow upstate NY, VT, ME, etc.

Also - Orko????

Orko.jpg

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So you disagree with the NESIS scale then?

NESIS implies storms outside of the northeast are unimportant. This naming silliness appears to apply to "noteworthy" (whatever that means) storms anywhere. I'll be miffed if a 10' snow storm in the Sierra isn't named Yogi.

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NESIS implies storms outside of the northeast are unimportant. This naming silliness appears to apply to "noteworthy" (whatever that means) storms anywhere. I'll be miffed if a 10' snow storm in the Sierra isn't named Yogi.

But couldn't NESIS be reapplied to other areas, where there are population centers? NESIS has an equation IIRC, and I believe there is no reason why it could not be applied to other areas.

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So you disagree with the NESIS scale then?

Nope, because that is a project undertaken with a specific algorithm to determine the intensity of a winter weather event using measurable variables. It has a defined scale of societal impact basis areal coverage of snow, population, amount of snow, etc. It was only designed to cover the northeast (hence NESIS). I also believe we receive the NESIS classification AFTER the storm is finished. We don't categorize a storm as NESIS 5 while in progress (though we can speculate).

What we have so far from TWC is

"The process for naming a winter storm will reflect a more complete assessment of several variables that combine to produce disruptive impacts including snowfall, ice, wind and temperature. In addition, the time of day (rush hour vs. overnight) and the day of the week (weekday school and work travel vs. weekends) will be taken into consideration in the process the meteorological team will use to name storms.OK,

Which is all well and dandy, but we have no specific algorithm or anything concrete and quantifiable from them so far to determine a naming. Just that it takes into account conditions and timing...not even a mention of population, not a mention of area covered by snowfall, nothing concrete.

If you're going to apply this system to the rest of the country, then why not publish the minimum requirements for a named storm? It's subjective as it stands right now.

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I think it is a silly change to get noticed. Surely it will be categorized by relevant storms to population centers. If 8" of snow falls in Northern Wisconsin/UP of Michigan does it get named? No, but if 4" of snow hits DC/Philly it would probably be named.

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This is a dumb idea. For one, the general public cant decipher the difference between a winter storm watch and a winter storm warning. Heck even folks in the weather field will say the wrong type of watch/warning at times. Now you are going to throw in an unusual name that no one relates to, so you are going to confuse the general public even more. Why fix something that isnt broken? I can see it now. There is a Winter Storm Warning Q for the state college area until XXX XX XXXX at this time.

Just leave it as it is, Teach the general public about the differences between the watch and a warning instead. If they do take the naming route, what will be the criteria? Again, it is just going to confuse the general public. So the snows that dont get a name are nothing even if it is 3" and in places like richmond or charlotte, that would be a pretty crippling event, so the general public wont take it serious unless it is tagged with a name, yeah that makes sense TWC.. They are completely wrong in doing this, it is just going to cause a lot of mis understanding.

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Terrible idea IMO. Besides the fact that it's stupid, winter storms are much more unpredictable and short term than hurricanes. Whereas w/ tropics, it's relatively easy to gauge whether a storm will be a doozy or not from 3+ days in advance (and they have a standard method of intensification, compared to winter storms at least) often times it's impossible to predict the magnitude of a winter storm until it's occurring. Maybe naming them after it's over would work (I still don't like - naming should be reserved for tropics only). Plus, it would get too subjective. How much snowfall do you need over what geographic area? Where do wind speeds come in? Do we name storms that impact nobody in the northern plains or just the I-95 corridor?

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This is a dumb idea. For one, the general public cant decipher the difference between a winter storm watch and a winter storm warning. Heck even folks in the weather field will say the wrong type of watch/warning at times. Now you are going to throw in an unusual name that no one relates to, so you are going to confuse the general public even more. Why fix something that isnt broken? I can see it now. There is a Winter Storm Warning Q for the state college area until XXX XX XXXX at this time.

Just leave it as it is, Teach the general public about the differences between the watch and a warning instead. If they do take the naming route, what will be the criteria? Again, it is just going to confuse the general public. So the snows that dont get a name are nothing even if it is 3" and in places like richmond or charlotte, that would be a pretty crippling event, so the general public wont take it serious unless it is tagged with a name, yeah that makes sense TWC.. They are completely wrong in doing this, it is just going to cause a lot of mis understanding.

I dont think they are going to be including the names when issuing WSW and such. They don't do that now for tropical systems.

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This is a dumb idea. For one, the general public cant decipher the difference between a winter storm watch and a winter storm warning. Heck even folks in the weather field will say the wrong type of watch/warning at times. Now you are going to throw in an unusual name that no one relates to, so you are going to confuse the general public even more. Why fix something that isnt broken? I can see it now. There is a Winter Storm Warning Q for the state college area until XXX XX XXXX at this time.

Just leave it as it is, Teach the general public about the differences between the watch and a warning instead. If they do take the naming route, what will be the criteria? Again, it is just going to confuse the general public. So the snows that dont get a name are nothing even if it is 3" and in places like richmond or charlotte, that would be a pretty crippling event, so the general public wont take it serious unless it is tagged with a name, yeah that makes sense TWC.. They are completely wrong in doing this, it is just going to cause a lot of mis understanding.

It's a money grab. Big boy NBC is getting their hands all over some "neat" ideas. lol. Good point about Charlotte.

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I dont think they are going to be including the names when issuing WSW and such. They don't do that now for tropical systems.

Since these aren't official government names, but instead names given by a private company, there would be no basis for ever including names in the WSW product.

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I dont think they are going to be including the names when issuing WSW and such. They don't do that now for tropical systems.

They do for Tropical storms and some depressions they actually will use the name sometimes, ie, Tropical storm watch Kim for the coastal regions of SC and GA until date and time. Like Isohume said, it is a money and ratings grabber. Dumb and ridiculous.

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They do for Tropical storms and some depressions they actually will use the name sometimes, ie, Tropical storm watch Kim for the coastal regions of SC and GA until date and time. Like Isohume said, it is a money and ratings grabber. Dumb and ridiculous.

Fine, but they won't do it for winter storm watches/warnings.

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Who knows what they will do. No one seems to know all the details yet about it. I wouldnt put it past TWC to do it like that

as a red tagger said above, TWC cannot put the names in government issued watches/warning text. Only NWS can do that, and they are not the ones doing the naming :)

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