The Weather Channel Decided To Name Just About Everything

Yeah, it's all pretty stupid:

The Weather Channel announced last fall that it had decided to begin naming noteworthy winter storm systems, and the current blizzard is providing its most high-profile chance to do so. As a result, those who visit weather.com are greeted with headlines dominated by "Winter Storm Nemo." Meanwhile, those who opt for weather.gov are warned of a regular old "major winter storm." The reason: Federal forecasters are refusing to play along with what is widely seen as the cable channel's PR power play. The Media Decoder explains:

[T]he National Weather Service ... has advised its forecasters not to follow the channel’s lead. ... [W]eather experts continue to roll their eyes at the channel’s storm-naming, just as they did when it was announced last November. It’s widely viewed as a marketing ploy, even though some skeptics admit that the names help raise awareness about storms. On Thursday, a National Weather Service spokesman reiterated, "We never have, nor do we have any plans to consider naming winter storms."