Wikipedia:WikiProject Weather/Non-tropical storms task force/Winter storm naming (United States)

Winter storm naming by The Weather Channel is a debated topic on Wikipedia due to the circumstances involved with this particular entity.

Brief history

Since 2012, The Weather Channel has been naming winter storms. The idea was met with controversy from meteorologists with arguments on why the storms should or shouldn't have their own naming system. Official agencies of the United States federal government such as the National Weather Service weighed in stating they do not recognize The Weather Channel's naming system for winter storms.

Why it matters

Winter storm naming does not add credibility based on a study done on their impacts. Doctoral candidate Adam Rainear from the University of Connecticut argues that hurricane names (in comparison) were adopted as a useful tool for mariners to help warn ships of the storm's path. The Weather Channel is also an American pay television channel privately owned by The Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of the Allen Media Group. While there have been allegations of profiting on winter storm names, Rainear states that no data supports the notion of The Weather Channel drawing in more people by naming them. Nonetheless, official agencies such as the National Weather Service, and the World Meteorological Organization do not recognize the naming list provided by the private entity.

Consensus

Based on a discussion in November 2012, and a second in February 2021 there is currently no consensus for giving articles names used by The Weather Channel. The current naming convention has been to name the storm based on the time period from formation to dissipation. If this format for whatever reason does not work, then discussions are to be made on articles as individuals. Merging a set of overlapping winter storms for example has been done with Mid-December 2007 North American winter storms. There has also been an understood consensus to allow mention of the TWC names within the articles, as long as said names are not part of the article title.

Example of usage

A good example of how Wikipedia editors handle this discussion and debate can be seen with the lead of the March 2023 North American winter storm article:

A winter storm in March 2023 impacted much of the Western, Northern, and Northeastern United States, producing high snowfall totals and widespread damage across the region. The winter storm, unofficially named Winter Storm Sage by The Weather Channel, first progressed across the Western United States as an atmospheric river, and then moved across the northern United States, bringing blizzard conditions and moderate snowfall across the Northern U.S..

Wikipedia editors have a silent consensus for this method and process involving mention of the TWC winter storm names. The articles are not named based on the TWC name, however, the TWC name is mentioned in the article after the first sentence.