Weather Channel Decision to Name Winter Storms Will Increase Confusion in Delivering Critical Safety Information to Public
Unilateral Initiative Not Supported by Science
STATE COLLEGE, PA – October 3, 2012 – A unilateral decision by The Weather Channel to name winter storms will create confusion, rather than delivering critical and important safety and planning information to the public, said AccuWeather, Inc. AccuWeather’s own examination of the issue over many years has found no benefit to users of weather forecasts by the initiative recently announced by The Weather Channel.
“In unilaterally deciding to name winter storms, The Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety and is doing a disservice to the field of meteorology and public service,” said Dr. Joel N. Myers, AccuWeather Founder and President. He pointed to a reported statement by The Weather Channel’s spokesman that storms affecting many people would get names and that those affecting few people would not be named, highlighting the arbitrary nature of the unpublished criteria.
“We have explored this issue for 20 years,” continued Dr. Myers, “and have found that this is not good science and importantly will actually mislead the public. Winter storms are very different from hurricanes.”
Naming of hurricanes makes sense because they are well-defined storms following a path that can be tracked and predicted. Hurricanes have a life of many days and often weeks, move deliberately, and primarily affect a well-defined area of impact in all four quadrants, centered around the Eye-Path™.
By contrast, winter storms are often erratic, affecting different areas unevenly. Winter storms often develop, dissipate, and reform with two to three centers, often delivering snow in only one quadrant, while places not too far away from a blizzard may experience rain or fog, or nothing at all. As a result, the public will not know what action to take when there is a “named” storm, or may take the wrong action.
By contrast, some of the most severe winter events affect only limited areas, such as lake effect snow or freezing rain, which are not even associated with a predicted storm center. Under the Weather Channel system, these might not even be named, yet they can cause death and destruction.
As a result, AccuWeather believes that naming winter storms by The Weather Channel will increase confusion in the public and the emergency management community.
About AccuWeather and AccuWeather.comEvery day 600 million people worldwide rely on AccuWeather to help them plan their lives, protect their businesses, and get more from their day. AccuWeather provides hourly forecasts for more than 2.7 million locations worldwide, with customized content and engaging video presentations available on smart phones, tablets, free wired and mobile internet sites, connected TVs and Internet appliances, as well as via radio, television, and newspapers. Founded in 1962 by Dr. Joel N. Myers – a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society who was recognized as one of the top entrepreneurs in American history by Entrepreneur Magazine’s Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs – AccuWeather also delivers a wide range of highly-customized enterprise solutions to media, business, government, and institutions, as well as news and weather content and video for more than 72,000 third-party websites, including The Wall Street Journal, CBS News Mobile, and The New York Times.
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