Winter storm names

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The Weather Channel has named winter storms since late 2012.[1] While colloquial storm names have been in use since the 18th century, The Weather Channel introduced an organized list of storm names throughout the season, in a manner similar to those used for tropical cyclones.

The Weather Channel cited the ease of following the progress of a named storm, including discussion in social media, as a key factor in its decision to start assigning storm names.[2] The idea generated significant controversy in the meteorological community, with the National Weather Service asking its forecasters to avoid using the names. NWS spokesperson Susan Buchannan stated, "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."[3] The National Weather Service would only use official names for hurricanes and tropical storms and not for winter storm naming.[1] AccuWeather President Joel Meyers called the idea "not good science and importantly will actually mislead the public", citing many of the same objections as the NWS.[4] Meteorologists outside of The Weather Channel, including rival weather news stations and some local news stations would often see this as a marketing ploy.[1][5]

Initially, The Weather Channel kept the exact strategy for naming storms and list of criteria proprietary, stating that the assessment process involves several factors that attempt to categorize a storm's impacts, including snowfall and ice amounts, wind speeds, temperatures, and the time of day and day of the week that a storm is expected to impact.[2] In 2013, The Weather Channel started using NWS alerts as the criteria for naming a storm.[6] The criteria, still in use in 2021, were NWS winter storm, blizzard, or ice storm warnings covering at least a population of 2 million or an area of 400,000 square kilometers.[7]

In 2015, The Weather Channel stated that a committee of three meteorologists (Tom Niziol, Stu Ostro, and Jonathan Erdman) were responsible for deciding if a system was named.[6]

History and winter storm naming proposal

During Halloween 2011, a nor'easter impacted the northeastern United States and was nicknamed "Snowtober" by various media outlets and on social media, which prompted The Weather Channel (TWC) to put the nickname on air, where it took off.[8][9] As a result, commercial weather services started to informally investigate naming winter storms and realized that Twitter needed a hashtag for every system so that information could be filtered.[8][10] During October 2012, TWC announced that 3 of their senior meteorologists would start proactively naming noteworthy winter storms, using names from a predetermined list of 26 Roman and Greek names.[11][10] TWC argued that the naming scheme would raise awareness and make communications and information sharing easier, which in turn would make it easier for people to understand forecasts, leading to better planning, preparedness, and results with less impact overall.[11] The initial reaction to TWC's naming scheme was mixed as most people did not have a problem with it, while others were not happy that TWC had not consulted the rest of the meteorological community on the initiative, and called it self-serving and not in the interest of effective weather communication.[12] After considering TWC's press release and various other factors, the founder and president of the commercial weather service AccuWeather, Joel N. Myers, suggested that TWC had "confused media spin with science and public safety."[13] He also stated that AccuWeather had explored the issue for 20 years and had concluded that it "was not good science" that would "mislead the public" and noted that "winter storms were very different from hurricanes".[13] At the time, the NWS made no comment about the naming system but noted that they did not name winter storms.[13]

Deployment of the winter storm naming

After TWC named its first system in November 2012, the NWS Eastern Region headquarters reminded its forecast offices that it does not name winter storms. The NWS Weather Forecast Office in Buffalo, New York unofficially named six systems after the fact during the winter of 2012-13.[14][15] After reading a headline entitled "Brutus expected to bury Bozeman", students at the Bozeman High School in Montana reached out to TWC and provided them with four years' worth of classical Latin and Greek names as they wanted to raise awareness of the languages.[16][17] During the season, TWC did not use any quantitative method to name the systems and started to use the names provided by the students after it had exhausted the list of names that it had preselected.[18][19] After the season had ended, TWC reviewed the systems it had assigned a name to and felt that 90% of the systems deserved to be named, based on the impacts they had on a regional and national basis.[19] They also determined that the project had been a success; after over a billion impressions were recorded on Twitter and numerous schools, agencies and media outlets had also started to use it.[20] As a result, they decided to use the named storms of 2012-13 as a benchmark and developed a quantitative method for deciding when to name future storms, which they entitled the Integrated Meteorological Population and Area Calculation Tool (IMPACT).[21] This tool allowed TWC to calculate the population and area that is forecast to be impacted by a winter storm, based on thresholds set by the NWS for winter weather warnings and advisories.[19][21]

As a result, they decided that they would name a storm during the 2013-14 season if it was forecast to impact over 10 million people or 1,000,000 km2 (390,000 mi2); it was noted that the storm naming committee could override the guidance in certain circumstances.[21] Over the next few years, TWC continued to develop the science behind their naming scheme and collaborated with the Latin class at Bozeman High School to release a new set of 26 names each year.[20][22][23]

Despite the unofficial status of TWC's naming system, the winter storm names are used by news outlets,[24][25][26] government agencies,[27][28] airlines,[29] and utility providers.[30][31]

United States government naming policy

The U.S. government-operated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (a division of which—the National Hurricane Center—has named hurricanes for many years), and its main division—the National Weather Service (NWS)—did not acknowledge TWC's winter storm names and asked its forecast offices to refrain from using the TWC names.[32] In a November 2012 memo, it requested that its employees avoid referring to storms by name.[9] NWS spokesperson Susan Buchanan stated, "The National Weather Service does not name winter storms because a winter storm's impact can vary from one location to another, and storms can weaken and redevelop, making it difficult to define where one ends and another begins."[3] The National Weather Service has stated that "no plans to consider naming winter storms" are in progress.[33]

Reception

Private weather forecaster AccuWeather disagreed with the practice of naming winter storms in 2013. AccuWeather president Joel N. Myers stated in February 2013, "The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety. We [...] have found this is not good science and will mislead the public."[34][12] In defense of TWC's practice, TWC's Norcross said, "The fact is, a storm with a name is easier to follow, which will mean fewer surprises and more preparation."[2] Media organizations such as The New York Times and The Washington Post later stated that they would not use a name such as "Winter Storm Nemo" for the February 2013 nor'easter.[34][35] However, some outlets such as New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's office used the Twitter hashtag "#nemo" to refer to the storm.[36] Tom Kines of AccuWeather stated, "The Weather Channel probably names the storms because it gets the publicity." TWC relies on its TV audience and page views for revenue as the weather service is privately owned.[3] Other claims include TWC naming the storms as a form of an advertisement campaign.[5] Other stations/organizations have decided to use their own naming system, which only adds to the confusion that abounds.

Doctoral candidate Adam Rainear from the University of Connecticut stated that the names do not add credibility based on a study he had done on impacts.[8] Rainear argued that hurricane names were adopted as a useful tool for mariners to help warn ships of the storm's path. He points out though, that no "data" supports the notion of The Weather Channel drawing in more people by naming winter storms.[37] The AP Stylebook issued an update in 2018 advising that "Major storm names provided by government weather agencies, the European Union or World Meteorological Organization are acceptable." then went on to say, "Do not use names created by private agencies or other organizations." This change affects news and media sources that rely on The Associated Press.[38]

AMS Committee

During 2017 an ad-hoc subcommittee of the American Meteorological Society's Committee on the Effective Communication of Water and Climate Information investigated the naming of winter storms, in order to see if the United States weather enterprise and National Weather Service should adopt a winter storm naming process.[39] The Committee requested and received presentations on The Weather Channel's naming scheme, Social Science and Named Winter Storms, Differing perceptions of Hurricanes and Nor’easters and two on Met Éireann and the United Kingdom's Met Office's naming scheme.[39] The committee also consulted with the NWS who noted that collaboration would be needed with Canada and Mexico, while the agency that named the systems would need to be neutral.[40] The NWS also noted that its participation in any research did not imply an endorsement of the naming scheme or commitment to an operational change and that it did not have any plans to invest any money in this area.[40]

The committee subsequently found that there was no strong evidence that naming winter storms enhanced safety and that the major intent behind naming winter storms was to help communications with the general public and decision-makers.[39] Members of the committee subsequently commented that they felt better informed after these presentations but were not able to come to a consensus on if the United States weather enterprise should adopt a naming process for winter storms.[40] In particular, members felt like they needed more information before they could make an informed opinion and suggested that further research was needed around the naming criteria, why and how the TWC names are used and into any potential harm of naming weather systems.[40] They also suggested that the issue should be moved up to either the AMS Board on Enterprise Communication or the AMS Board of Best Practices.[40]

Statistics

All statistics below as of January 28, 2026:[41]

  • Average number of named storms per season: 21
  • Earliest named storm: Atlas (October 3, 2013)
  • Latest named storm: Valerie (May 18, 2017)
Number of named storms by month
October November December January February March April May
8 25 46 61 71 39 13 4

List of storm names

Storm names used by The Weather Channel
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
Athena Atlas Astro Ajax Argos Aiden Avery Aubrey Abigail Atticus Alejandra Archer Anya Alston
Brutus Boreas Bozeman Bella Blanche Benji Bruce Bessie Billy Bankston Beck Bryson Blair Bellamy
Caesar Cleon Cato Cara Caly Chloe Carter Caleb Constance Carrie Carli Cait Cora Chan
Draco Dion Damon Delphi Decima Dylan Diego Dorothy Dane Delphine Diaz Donovan Demi Devin
Euclid Electra Eris Echo Europa Ethan Eboni Ezekiel Eartha Elmer Elliott Ember Enzo Ezra
Freyr Falco Frona Ferus Fortis Frankie Fisher Finley Flynn Frida Fernando Finn Freya Fern
Gandolf Gemini Gorgon Goliath Gregory Grayson Gia Gage Gail Garrett Gael Gerri Garnett Gianna
Helen Hercules Hektor Hera Helena Hunter Harper Henry Harold Hatcher Hudson Heather Harlow Hernando
Iago Ion Iola Ilias Iras Inga Indra Isaiah Ivy Izzy Iggy Indigo Iliana Iona
Jove Janus Juno Jonas Jupiter Jaxon Jayden Jacob John Jasper Jimenez Jarvis Jett Joseline
Khan Kronos Kari Kayla Kari Kalani Kai Kade Katherine Kenan Kassandra Kayden Kingston Kadence
Luna Leon Linus Lexi Leo Liam Lucian Lamont Lana Landon Leona Lorraine Lola Louise
Magnus Maximus Marcus Mars Maya Mateo Maya Mabel Malcolm Miles Mara Miguel Marisol Maizie
Nemo Nika Neptune Nacio Niko Noah Nadia Nash Nathaniel Nancy Nova Noor Nyla Nell
Orko Orion Octavia Olympia Orson Oliver Oren Odell Orlena Oaklee Olive Orzelle Omari Obie
Plato Pax Pandora Petros Pluto Polly Petra Pearl Peggy Phyllis Piper Preston Pascale Peyton
Q Quintus Quantum Quo Quid Quinn Quiana Quincy Quade Quinlan Quest Qadir Quentin Quigley
Rocky Rex Remus Regis Reggie Riley Ryan Ruth Roland Rachel Ricardo Ronnie Roman Rodrigo
Saturn Seneca Sparta Selene Stella Skylar Scott Sadie Shirley Silas Sage Sawyer Spencer Santiago
Triton Titan Thor Troy Theseus Toby Taylor Thatcher Tabitha Tad Taylor Tormund Theo Tyrese
Ukko Ulysses Ultima Ursula Ursa Uma Ulmer Upton Uri Usher Uriel Unitas Usman Ulma
Virgil Vulcan Venus Vexo Valerie Violet Vaughn Veronica Viola Vega Vanessa Victoria Vincenzo Viviana
Walda Wiley Wolf Waylon Wyatt Wilbur Wesley Wyatt Ward Willow Wayne Winton Wilhelm Wolfgang
Xerxes Xenia Xander Xenos Xavier Xanto Xyler Xandra Xylia Xandy Xar Xenops Xia Ximena
Yogi Yona Yuli Yolo Yuri Yvonne Yvette Yates Yardley Yeager Yvette Yoshino Ygenny Yashi
Zeus Zephyr Zeus Zandor Zeno Zoey Zachary Zachariah Zane Zion Zariah Zyler Zahir Zeb
Achilles*

[42][2][43][44][45][46][33][47][48][49][50][51][7][52][53][54][41]

Note: An italicized name in the list above represents a storm name that was announced but not used. An asterisk beside the name represents a name that was added after the initial list was announced.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ghaffar, Nazaneen; McCann, Erin (January 21, 2026). "Everything You Could Possibly Want to Know About This Winter Storm". The New York Times. "Meteorological agencies in some parts of the world assign names to winter storms, but in the United States, only hurricanes and tropical storms get official names from the National Weather Service. Since 2012, The Weather Channel has used its own list of names for storms, a move that has been criticized as a marketing ploy. It is calling this one Fern.". Retrieved January 24, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Why The Weather Channel is Naming Winter Storms - weather.com". weather.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Greenfield, Rebecca (February 8, 2013). "Why Your Weatherman Is Protesting the Name 'Nemo' - National". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Weather Channel Decision to Name Winter Storms Will Increase Confusion in Delivering Critical Safety Information to Public". AccuWeather. October 3, 2012. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mersereau, Dennis (October 1, 2014). "The Weather Channel's Winter Storm Names Are a Cheap Advertising Ploy". Gawker. Archived from the original on September 11, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Niziol, Tom (October 13, 2015). "The Science Behind Naming Winter Storms at The Weather Channel". weather.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Erdman, Jonathan (December 9, 2021). "It's Winter Storm Season Already. Here Are the Winter Storm Names For 2021-22 | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com". weather.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Rainear, Adam M; Lachlan, Kenneth A; Lin, Carolyn A (October 1, 2017). "What's in a #Name? An Experimental Study Examining Perceived Credibility and Impact of Winter Storm Names". Weather, Climate, and Society. Bibcode:2017WCS.....9..815R. doi:10.1175/WCAS-D-16-0037.1. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Palmer, Roxanne (February 8, 2013). "What's In A Storm Name? Weather Channel Policy Draws Critics, But Catches On". International Business Times. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Norcross, Bryan (September 24, 2018). "Winter Storm Naming by The Weather Channel FAQ" (DOC). American Meteorological Society (Report). Archived (DOC) from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "The Weather Channel to Name Winter Storms". The Weather Channel (Press release). October 2, 2012. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Samenow, Jason (October 3, 2012). "TV weathercasters criticize unilateral action by The Weather Channel on storm naming". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Macmath, Jillian (October 5, 2012). "TWC Winter Storm Naming "Will Mislead Public"". AccuWeather. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  14. ↑ Samenow, Jason (November 7, 2012). "National Weather Service: Just say no to Athena". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  15. ↑ "NWS Buffalo Lake Effect Page". United States National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office Buffalo, New York. April 4, 2013. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Bozeman High students to be featured on Weather Channel". Bozeman Daily Chronicle. April 4, 2013. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  17. ↑ King, John (November 10, 2014). "Montana High School Students Name Winter Storms". Newstalk KGVO. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  18. ↑ Wiltgen, Nick (May 7, 2013). "Winter 2012-13: Named Storms from 'A' to 'Z' (and 'A' Again)". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on November 22, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Niziol, Thomas (July 3, 2017). "Naming Winter Storms". American Meteorological Society (Report). Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Winter Storm Names 2013-14: What They Are and What They Mean". The Weather Channel. October 1, 2013. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Nizol, Thomas (January 21, 2014). "The Science Behind Naming Winter Storms at The Weather Channel". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on November 22, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Winter Storm Names 2014-15: What They Are and What They Mean". The Weather Channel. October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on November 21, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Winter Storm Names 2015-16: What They Are and What They Mean". The Weather Channel. October 13, 2015. Archived from the original on October 15, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Heavy snowfall from Winter Storm Fern to be followed with bitter cold". The Columbus Dispatch. Columbus, OH. January 25, 2026. Archived from the original on January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  25. ↑ Wimbish, Jasmyn (January 25, 2026). "Winter Storm Fern forces postponement of NBA, college basketball games". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  26. ↑ Whitmire, Kelly (January 25, 2026). "Where power is out in Forsyth County during Winter Storm Fern". Forsyth County News. Retrieved January 26, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ↑ "Important winter storm Fern information". City of Galveston, Texas. January 23, 2026. Archived from the original on January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  28. ↑ "USDA Encourages Ag Producers, Residents to Prepare for Winter Storm Fern". United States Department of Agriculture. January 23, 2026. Archived from the original on January 24, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Winter Storm Fern Update: Delta teams managing weather conditions; intend to operate reduced, planned schedule". Delta News Hub. Delta Airlines. January 25, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. ↑ "Winter Storm Fern arrives in Georgia, impacts expected overnight". Georgia Power. January 24, 2026. Archived from the original on January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  31. ↑ "Winter storm Fern updates". Verizon. Archived from the original on January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  32. ↑ Panovich, Brad (November 8, 2012). "What's the big deal with naming winter storms?". wxbrad.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Rice, Doyle (October 18, 2016). "Ready for Winter Storm Blanche? Weather Channel releases list of storm names". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Newman, Jared (February 9, 2013). "Don't Call that Storm 'Nemo'? Twitter Begs to Differ". Time. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  35. ↑ Stelter, Brian (February 9, 2013). "A Storm Is 'No One,' and Means Very Little". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  36. ↑ Mirkinson, Jack (February 8, 2013). "'Nemo' May Be Weather Channel's Name For Northeast Blizzard, But Most Other Outlets Aren't Biting". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on August 25, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  37. ↑ Best, Kenneth (December 14, 2017). "The Impact of Winter Storm Names". UConn Today. University of Connecticut. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  38. ↑ Perlman, Merrill (May 7, 2018). "New AP Stylebook guidelines, influenced by #MeToo, hurricanes, and online polls". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 "Abstract – Report out from Ad Hoc Committee on Naming Winter Storms – What's in a Name?" (Report). American Meteorological Society. 2019. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 40.4 "Naming Winter Storms Final Report" (Report). American Meteorological Society. October 28, 2019. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Belles, Jonathan; Erdman, Jonathan (October 8, 2025). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2025-26". Weather.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  42. ↑ "Winter 2012-13: Named Storms from A to... - weather.com". weather.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2013.
  43. ↑ "Winter Storm Names 2013-14: What They Are and What They Mean - weather.com". Archived from the original on October 1, 2013.
  44. ↑ "Winter Storm Names 2014-2015: What They Are and What They Mean". Archived from the original on December 31, 2014.
  45. ↑ "Winter Storm Central". weather.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2014.
  46. ↑ Rice, Doyle (October 13, 2015). "From Ajax to Zandor: Weather Channel releases list of winter storm names". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  47. ↑ "Winter Storm Names For 2017-18 Revealed". weather.com. February 7, 2018. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  48. ↑ Brookbank, Sarah (January 18, 2019). "Winter Storm Harper: Why do winter storms have names?". Cincinnati Enquirer.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  49. ↑ "The Weather Channel Announces Winter Storm Names for 2019-2020 Season". The Weather Group. October 3, 2019. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  50. ↑ "Winter Storm Names for 2019-20 Revealed". weather.com. October 3, 2019. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  51. ↑ "Winter Storm Names for 2020-21 Revealed | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com". weather.com. October 1, 2020. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  52. ↑ Erdman, Jonathan (October 10, 2022). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2022-23". weather.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  53. ↑ Erdman, Jonathan (October 24, 2023). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2023-24". Weather.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  54. ↑ Erdman, Jonathan (October 16, 2024). "Here Are The Winter Storm Names For 2024-25". Weather.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
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