Blizzards will soon have names
Decades after hurricanes first got formal names, some blizzards in the United States will get their own names this winter.
The Weather Channel will assign the names. It is the first time a national organization in North America will proactively name winter storms.
Most of the names will have a Greek/Roman theme. For example, the first three names on the list are Athena, Brutus and Caesar.
The formal hurricane naming system began in the mid-1950s. Male names were added to the lists in 1979.
To avoid confusion, none of the Weather Channel's 26 winter storm names has been on any of the lists of hurricane names.
The Weather Channel hopes the new blizzard names will help raise public awareness about winter storms. Officials said an average of about eight to 10 storms will probably be named each winter.