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February 8, 2013
21:46 • 4 months ago
Gawker’s Max Read on why you shouldn’t call this storm battering the East Coast Nemo:

Yes: last year The Weather Channel—which owns Weather.com, Weather Underground, and a host of other weather-related sites—announced it would begin naming winter storms too. That is its official list of names, as packaged in its official, attractive graphic.
The truth is there is very little attempt being made to hide the fact that this is a money play. In case the inclusion of “Draco” and “Nemo” (just some Greek and Roman names, nothing to do with any recent children’s movies, don’t worry) and “Gandolf” (the “Bert Sampson” of fantasy names) didn’t tip you off, the announcement itself makes it clear that this is about punching up the weather story: “A storm with a name takes on a personality all its own,” writes Tom Niziol. Such “personality,” he claims “adds to awareness.”
Awareness! Of course, awareness. It’s true that if everyone involved in risk and emergency communication—management agencies, local governments, and private news outlets—can agree on a name, it might help emphasize and direct storm news and information.

Cable networks: Where they throw out the official rule book in the name of ratings and hope everyone else plays along.

Gawker’s Max Read on why you shouldn’t call this storm battering the East Coast Nemo:

Yes: last year The Weather Channel—which owns Weather.com, Weather Underground, and a host of other weather-related sites—announced it would begin naming winter storms too. That is its official list of names, as packaged in its official, attractive graphic.

The truth is there is very little attempt being made to hide the fact that this is a money play. In case the inclusion of “Draco” and “Nemo” (just some Greek and Roman names, nothing to do with any recent children’s movies, don’t worry) and “Gandolf” (the “Bert Sampson” of fantasy names) didn’t tip you off, the announcement itself makes it clear that this is about punching up the weather story: “A storm with a name takes on a personality all its own,” writes Tom Niziol. Such “personality,” he claims “adds to awareness.”

Awareness! Of course, awareness. It’s true that if everyone involved in risk and emergency communication—management agencies, local governments, and private news outlets—can agree on a name, it might help emphasize and direct storm news and information.

Cable networks: Where they throw out the official rule book in the name of ratings and hope everyone else plays along.

July 1, 2012
11:56 • 11 months ago
The rest of the family members miraculously were virtually unscathed — a couple of scratches, but nothing to them. What they have is the horror of what happened to the two boys.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Larry Ragonese • On the death of two young cousins, aged 2 and 7, at that state’s Parvin State Park very early Saturday morning. A tree fell on top of the family, which was huddled together in a single tent amidst the storm. It’s just one of the tragedies of the extreme weather seen along the East Coast this weekend, a mixture of incredibly strong storms and record heat. In Atlanta, for example, it hit 106 degrees yesterday, an all-time record for the city. Power grids remained severely damaged throughout the region, and many were suffering from heat exhaustion, which led to the deaths of two young boys in Tennessee. Just a tip to everyone: Find AC and stay inside, but don’t be jerks to each other.
June 30, 2012
18:21 • 11 months ago

  • 90mph the maximum winds reported from the storm, which started in the Midwest
  • 13 the number of people killed by the line of storms, from Indiana to New Jersey
  • 3M the number of people who went without power, many in the Washington DC area source

» Strong, windy and quick: As anyone in the Mid-Atlantic region will tell you, the storm that slammed the region last night was there and gone within an hour — but for a good half an hour or so, it was heavy. The style of storm even has a proper name — the derecho. Or as National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Jackson put it: ”It’s one of those storms. It just plows through.” And yes, this storm is what took down Netflix and Instagram.

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