4 ms·

Agree. Maybe I'm too cynical, but I strongly suspect this is more motivated by weather news marketing and ad revenue strategy than an altruistic desire to "rai

Agree. Maybe I'm too cynical, but I strongly suspect this is more motivated by weather news marketing and ad revenue strategy than an altruistic desire to "raise awareness".

sandworm101 6y ago
There is a practical use for the names. It isn't all marketing. Internally, a hurricane starts as a little swirl on the other side of the ocean and is watched/tracked as an interesting object. Designators are used to track these structures. They are given formal names at a particular point once they hit certain milestones. This naming triggers certain processes (more attention, greater tracking fidelity, inclusion in daily briefs etc). These are no different than military operations, which have to be of a particular size before they are formally 'named'. The fact that the media promulgates these internal designators to the public is but an extension of a useful internal process.
- phkahler 6y ago
  >> This naming triggers certain processes (more attention, greater tracking fidelity, inclusion in daily briefs etc). Right, but you mention the key thing places like The Weather Channel want - increased attention via daily briefs. The public doesn't need that, TWC does.
  - sandworm101 6y ago
    They might appear to want it, but I think the weather channel simply takes whatever is available. With hours of time to fill each day, they will make hay with whatever data the government weather people put on the website.
    - leetrout 6y ago
      Not quite true. > In November 2012, TWC began naming winter storms ... > The U.S. government-operated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ... and ... 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 > The National Weather Service has since stated that "no plans to consider naming winter storms" are in progress.[25] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_storm_naming_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_storm_naming_in_the_Uni...

Agree. Maybe I'm too cynical, but I strongly suspect this is more motivated by weather news marketing and ad revenue strategy than an altruistic desire to "raise awareness".

sandworm101 6y ago

There is a practical use for the names. It isn't all marketing. Internally, a hurricane starts as a little swirl on the other side of the ocean and is watched/tracked as an interesting object. Designators are used to track these structures. They are given formal names at a particular point once they hit certain milestones. This naming triggers certain processes (more attention, greater tracking fidelity, inclusion in daily briefs etc). These are no different than military operations, which have to be of a particular size before they are formally 'named'. The fact that the media promulgates these internal designators to the public is but an extension of a useful internal process.

phkahler 6y ago
>> This naming triggers certain processes (more attention, greater tracking fidelity, inclusion in daily briefs etc). Right, but you mention the key thing places like The Weather Channel want - increased attention via daily briefs. The public doesn't need that, TWC does.
- sandworm101 6y ago
  They might appear to want it, but I think the weather channel simply takes whatever is available. With hours of time to fill each day, they will make hay with whatever data the government weather people put on the website.
  - leetrout 6y ago
    Not quite true. > In November 2012, TWC began naming winter storms ... > The U.S. government-operated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ... and ... 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 > The National Weather Service has since stated that "no plans to consider naming winter storms" are in progress.[25] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_storm_naming_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_storm_naming_in_the_Uni...