Summer is often known for at least one strong storm that wreaks havoc on the coastal regions of the U.S., as seen with Hurricanes Milton and Helene in 2024. But with so much of the midwest and east coast under the effects of Winter Storm Blair, some may wonder how (or why) this storm got its name.
Contrary to tropical storms and hurricanes—which have been receiving names from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 1953—winter storms didn’t start receiving names until 2011, and it was all because of Twitter.
When and Why did we Start Naming Winter Storms?
According to a document provided by the American Meteorological Society, The Weather Channel (TWC) began naming winter storms in 2011 to better organize information about them via hashtags on social media. Prior to 2011, it was difficult to tell which forecast and storm was current when social media users solely relied on general hashtags such as #winterstorm or #winterstormwarning.
When a storm rolls in, TWC creates a hashtag with the storm’s unique name, which allows for both TWC and regular people to more easily access information about each one.
Where Do Storm Names Come From?
Winter storm names are issued on an annual basis by The Weather Channel. Like tropical storm names, they go in alphabetical order throughout the season. According to WBOY12 in West Virginia, when TWC first began the initiative, it based its pool of names around Greek and Roman ones to separate itself from the naming system used by the NOAA for tropical storms and hurricanes. It also commissioned the Latin club at a high school in Bozeman, Montana to come up with future names, which were used as a basis for a few years.
Currently, the names are based on the most popular baby names of the past few years with other common ones used to fill in the gaps. All of the names on the six Atlantic storm lists are excluded as well as the retired ones or names that have long and complicated spellings. According to the Social Security Administration, Blair was the 239th most popular name in 2023, rising from 335 in 2020.
What’s the Criteria for Naming a Winter Storm?
Not just every winter storm gets the honor of being named. In order for a winter storm to be named by TWC, it must cross at least one of three thresholds when the National Weather Service issues a winter storm warning. “If at least 2 million people are under warnings, or the warnings cover at least 400,000 km (about the size of Montana), or it is forecast that warnings will be issued meeting one of those criteria, a storm is named,” the AMS explains on its website.
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