WASHINGTON – The Washington area remembers Snowmaggedon all too well — the two- day storm in February 2010 dumped nearly three feet of snow on parts of the region.
But most winter storms lack a name. That, however, is about to change.
This winter, blizzards are going to get formal names — just like hurricanes.
The Weather Channel will assign the winter storm names for the first time, reports Weather.com.
European countries have named winter storms for years, but that hasn’t been the case in the United States.
In the U.S., the National Hurricane Center in Miami is responsible for naming hurricanes.
Many names on The Weather Channel’s list for the coming winter have a Greek-Roman theme:
- Athena: The Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspirations, justice, mathematics and all things wonderful.
- Brutus: Roman Senator and best known assassin of Julius Caesar.
- Caesar: Title used by Roman and Byzantine emperors.
- Draco: The first legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece.
- Euclid: A mathematician in Ancient Greece, the father of geometry.
- Freyr: A Norse god associated with fair weather, among other things.
- Gandolf: A character in a 1896 fantasy novel in a pseudo-medieval countryside.
- Helen: In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy was the daughter of Zeus.
- Iago: Enemy of Othello in Shakespeare’s play, Othello.
- Jove: The English name for Jupiter, the Roman god of light and sky.
- Khan: Mongolian conqueror and emperor of the Mongol empire.
- Luna: The divine embodiment of the moon in Roman mythology.
- Magnus: The Father of Europe, Charlemagne the Great, in Latin: Carolus Magnus.
- Nemo: A Greek boy’s name meaning “from the valley,” means “nobody” in Latin.
- Orko: The thunder god in Basque mythology.
- Plato: Greek philosopher and mathematician, who was named by his wrestling coach.
- Q: The Broadway Express subway line in New York City.
- Rocky: A single mountain in the Rockies.
- Saturn: Roman god of time, also the namesake of the planet Saturn in our solar system.
- Triton: In Greek mythology, the messenger of the deep sea, son of Poseidon.
- Ukko: In Finnish mythology, the god of the sky and weather.
- Virgil: One of ancient Rome’s greatest poets.
- Walda: Name from Old German meaning “ruler.”
- Xerxes: The fourth king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Xerxes the Great.
- Yogi: People who do yoga.
- Zeus: In Greek mythology, the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus and the gods who lived there.
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