The practice of naming normal storms (not hurricanes, just snowstorms and rain): when did that start?
The Weather Channel says winter storms have been named in Europe since the 1950s. It is a recent development for the US market. They began in the 2012-13 winter season.
And it’s not the U.S. National Weather Service that’s naming the winter storms, it’s the Weather Channel … I’m assuming so they can market them and create fun little graphics for local news reports and such.
It’s actually funny, when TWC started doing it last year, the couple friends I have on Facebook who work for NWS were all saucy about TWC starting it because it seemed like it was coming from an independent authority.
That’s what I thought it was! IIRC, a lot of local stations do the same thing.
There’s nothing whatsoever official about it. Just a Weather Channel marketing tool.