At a Glance
- The list of 2018-19 winter storm names has been revealed.
- Winter storms are named at The Weather Channel for those systems meeting strict NWS criteria.
- There were 24 named winter storms in the 2017-18 season from October through April.
The Weather Channel and weather.com released the 2018-19 winter storm names list Tuesday, marking the seventh season of naming winter storms.
The names will be used in alphabetical order to identify winter storms that meet objective naming criteria based on National Weather Service winter storm warnings, blizzard warnings and ice storm warnings.
The 2012-13 list for winter storms was the first of its kind to be developed by The Weather Channel.
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"It's simply easier to communicate about a complex storm if it has a name, which our naming program has demonstrated," said Bryan Norcross, former senior hurricane specialist at The Weather Channel and compiler of past lists. "Good communications benefits everyone."
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The names list was compiled by a team from both The Weather Channel TV and weather.com.
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 (those particularly deadly, destructive and historic).
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Winter storms are named based on either meeting, or the expectation to meet, at least one of the following criteria:
- NWS winter storm, blizzard, or ice storm warnings covering at least a population of 2 million- NWS winter storm, blizzard, or ice storm warnings covering at least an area of 400,000 square kilometers
Storms forecast to trigger NWS warnings over a much larger population and/or area, such as January 2018's Winter Storm Grayson in the South and Northeast, are typically named well ahead of time.
Lake-effect snowstorms are not named, and any warnings covering lake-effect snow are not counted for consideration for naming a winter storm.
Using these criteria, the number of named winter storms has been consistent over six seasons.
According to winter weather expert Tom Niziol of The Weather Channel, there were 24 named winter storms in the 2017-18 season. The three previous seasons each had 22 named storms. There were 26 named storms in 2013-14 and 27 storms in 2012-13.
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The season's first winter storm has been named from the first few days of October to mid-November. The season's final winter storm has been named from mid-April through mid-May.
In a typical season, winter storms have most often reached naming criteria from the latter half of January through February.
