AMERICAN winter is usually full of snowstorms and the 2022 season is no exception.
This is the 10th year winter storms have been named by The Weather Channel – so what winter storms have been named in 2022 and why?
Winter storms are named by The Weather Channel based on the alphabetical order and a specific criteria.
For a winter storm to be named, it has to be a National Weather Service winter storm, blizzard or ice storm warning that covers either a minimum of a population of 2 million or at least an area of 400,000 square metres.
Winter storm names exclude any current Atlantic and eastern Pacific hurricane names on the National Hurricane Center lists for the next six years, and any retired hurricane names.
According to the list of winter storm names 2021-22 issued by The Weather Channel, the next storm after Kenan will be Landon.
Using the naming criteria, the number of named winter storms has been consistent, ranging from 26 storms in 2013-14 to 19 storms in 2019-20.
There were 24 named storms last winter, including two in October.
This is the 10th time that The Weather Channel has been naming winter storms after it started the practice with the 2012-2013 winter season.
The first season the weather network worked through its entire list and had to find a second “A” storm when a late-season snowstorm hit the Plains and Midwest.
The storm names for 2022 are Atticus, Bankston, Carrie, Delphine, Elmer, Frida, Garrett, Hatcher, Izzy, Jasper, Kenan, Landon, Miles, Nancy, Oaklee, Phyllis, Quinlan, Rachel, Silas, Tad, Usher, Vega, Willow, Xandy, Yeager and Zion.
Until the early 1950s, tropical storms and hurricanes were tracked by year and the order they occurred.
However, it was learned over time that distinctive names would be needed to reduce confusion and streamline communications when two or more tropical storms occur at the same time.
It comes after storm advisories broadcast from radio stations were mistaken for warnings concerning an entirely different storm located hundreds of miles away.
Established by the World Meteorological Organization, a list of names are now used to identify for Atlantic hurricanes on a six-year rotation.
The only time that there is a change is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate.
In the event that more than twenty-one named tropical cyclones occur in a season, a supplemental list of names are used.
