Female Hurricanes Kill More than Male Hurricanes because People Don't Respect Them

[Kermor]

I remember that, once upon a time, hurricanes and storms wore only female names. It's only relatively recently that meteorologists began to alternate between male and female names. At the request of feminists, if I'm not mistaken.

[kitap]

Originally Posted by ganzfeld

Do seismologists say "Bill the Earthquake"? Do we have "volcanic eruption Rebecca"? I've never heard of any problem remembering them. (Nor have I ever heard anyone in countries where tropical storms names aren't used say, "gee, which one was it, No.7 in 1978 or No. 7 in 2003?" It just doesn't happen.)

I do believe the flows of Kilauea are named.

[ganzfeld]

They have traditional, Hawaiian, geographic, and more-or-less permanent names, not a silly system of personal given names.
For example, Puʻu ʻŌʻō, which doesn't mean anything like "Flow Nancy":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puʻu_ʻŌʻō

[kitap]

Originally Posted by ganzfeld

They have traditional, Hawaiian, geographic, and more-or-less permanent names, not a silly system of personal given names.
For example, Puʻu ʻŌʻō, which doesn't mean anything like "Flow Nancy":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puʻu_ʻŌʻō

But they are still named. They don't say "the 1997 flow".

I dunno. People name boats, cars, houses and office supplies; naming things seems to be a human thing to do. I think FrogFeathrrs had a name for a type of pain. Why are hurricanes any different?

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Here is the Weather Channel's announcement of its system for naming winter storms, which includes a brief discussion of the reasons and history for naming tropical storms.
http://www.weather.com/news/why-we-n...torms-20121001

Here is NOAA's brief account: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames_history.shtml

The World Meteorological Organization says that there are naming lists for EVERY basin that gets tropical storms. http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/tcp/Storm-naming.html

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by A Turtle Named Mack

Here is the Weather Channel's announcement of its system for naming winter storms, which includes a brief discussion of the reasons and history for naming tropical storms.
http://www.weather.com/news/why-we-n...torms-20121001

Yes, we know that the claim has been made that there are advantages but it's never been supported by any evidence. In actuality, it' just as likely that as simple superstition and sexism, as suggested by the traditions mentioned in your second link:

Here is NOAA's brief account: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames_history.shtml

For several hundred years many hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the particular saint's day on which the hurricane occurred.

Tannehill also tells of Clement Wragge, an Australian meteorologist who began giving women's names to tropical storms before the end of the 19th century.

You will note that the page in your first link explaining why they want to name winter storms is not supported by the organization in your next link. In fact the very reason for the lengthy explanation you linked to is that the various meteorological organizations oppose this practice.

The World Meteorological Organization says that there are naming lists for EVERY basin that gets tropical storms. http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/tcp/Storm-naming.html

Yes, unfortunately, that organization has tried to spread this ridiculous tradition. Only many cultures are averse to naming hurricanes with names - especially English names. So they (this gets more and more comedic) picked "names" from different countries' list of proposed names. Now there are names like Typhoon Rabbit. That was the actual name of the Typhoon I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Of course, not every country uses names. In fact, Typhoon Rabbit (Usagi - from Japanese) would be considered really juvenile and no one in Japan ever called anything but Typhoon 19. More importantly, the names given are almost always in other countries' languages. So it defeats the whole purpose of having something memorable or - whatever these names are supposed to do.

[Johnny Slick]

I'm calling shenanigans on this. The sample size is *way* too small; one male-named hurricane that killed a couple hundred people because it decided to land on a third world country would possibly be enough to even out the results all by itself.

[Amigone201]

Never mind.

[Cervus]

Chalk it up to cultural differences. Do other cultures get drunk and have hurricane parties like we do?

Say "Andrew" to any Miamian over age 30 and they'll tell you where they were and how they rode out the storm and how much they lost and how awesome the devastation was. "Hurricane 1 of 1992" just doesn't convey the same reverence and would be more difficult to remember. My parents got hit by Francis and Jeanne 3 weeks apart. It's easier to track each storm, and remember what damage was caused by which storm, when there's a name rather than a number. It's not stupid.

[Sue]

Particularly when you can get several hurricanes in a season. When I look back at a hurricane that may have affected me to vaguely say "that really bad one in hmm, was in 1991 or 1993" doesn't convey much and I doubt very much I'd even remember that it was Hurricane 1, 2 or 3 of 1991 or was it 1993. But I sure remember Hurricane Bob and using a name when discussing it will allow others to know immediately what I'm talking about especially if they too were affected.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

I really hate that the Weather Channel thinks that it is its job to name winter storms. First off then are not a national organization but rather a news organization trying to make themselves more important then any other news organization for weather even NOAA. Secondly since they are the only ones naming winter storms it makes it confusing when listening to other news organizations about the winter storms. Lastly a winter storm is not the nearly the same threat to life and property as a hurricane. The people in those areas that tend to have winter storms expect and prepare for then every year. Generally their biggest problem is no power for a couple weeks, shoveling driveway and getting to work.

[Avril]

Although I am not saying we should not name hurricanes (and I agree--naming winter storms is dumb and causes confusion, and the Weather Channel is now more of a tabloid looking for clickbait than reliable information about the weather, so it seems to me), I can tell you that despite many, many tornadoes per season, people vividly remember the ones that did big things. They are known by their dates, usually (i.e., the "May 3, 1999 tornado").

[Richard W]

We still have "the storm of 1987" (sometimes called "the hurricane", although technically poor old Michael Fish was right... at least that it wasn't a hurricane, even though some gusts were measured at hurricane force.)

I've got a map showing recent lava flows on Etna, and those are identified by date, although it seems the 2001 flow qualifies as the "great flow".

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Cervus

Chalk it up to cultural differences. Do other cultures get drunk and have hurricane parties like we do?

I don't have any problem with people anthropomorphizing with a superstitious tradition on their own - or even on the weather channel. There's no reason it should be official - nor any that they should try to export it to other countries.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

The problem with naming tornadoes is they do not last long enough to bother giving them a name to track them by.

Hurricanes spend days and weeks forming and traveling across the oceans causing great destruction and deaths if people stay in the area were it makes land fall. They last long enough that they can be tracked and they're dangerous enough that people need to keep up to date on its progress in order to be prepared or move to safety. Naming as hurricane by date it became a hurricane make it hard for people to be worried about and track it, because they are not interested in when if formed and forget the date. They want to know when and were it will come ashore and strong to expect it.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Singing in the Drizzle

I really hate that the Weather Channel thinks that it is its job to name winter storms.

I totally agree that it's silly but at least the weather channel isn't in a position to make everyone else use those names (nor do I think they're asking others to). Otherwise, they're using the naming system exactly how people say it's supposed to be used. It's a cultural meme intended as an elaborate PR stunt. That's all the naming system is but people use big words to explain that and it sounds like it's actually something we need to do.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Singing in the Drizzle

Naming as hurricane by date it became a hurricane make it hard for people to be worried about and track it, because they are not interested in when if formed and forget the date.

I don't know of any place that uses dates. It sounds like it's no problem at all. Many places have used numbers and letters. I can't imagine someone saying "gee was it 15 or 16? Maybe we don't have to get ready". It's not really that plausible but, more importantly, there's no evidence that naming has helped anyone get ready any better than any other system.

[erwins]

Memorable names would follow from memorable storms, regardless of whether there was a name given to it. Around here, there's the Columbus Day storm, which I guess was a named storm, (Typhoon Freda) but no one calls it that. I don't think it's juvenile to use names, but I also don't think it's necessary for remembering the storms. ETA: Or to prepare for it. I grew up in Florida. If you know a hurricane is in the area, you'd pay attention whether it was called "A" or "Aaron." If there are several at once (not uncommon), you'd note which one(s) you need to pay particular attention to.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by kitap

But they are still named. They don't say "the 1997 flow".

I don't have any problem with people naming things they own - or even giving storms names like Snowmageddon or even Hugo. They just shouldn't be used in official reports about the weather. They shouldn't be trumped up as something necessary and there shouldn't be a system in which 26 human given names are selected in advance. If the purpose is just to have fun then, well, let the weather channel name them.

[kitap]

Anecdotally one of the message boards I am on has numerous people who like to ID people in stories/issues with letters. Like "so my MIL C was at the party and ran into D who is my former BFF and they began talking trash about E who is my cousin...." and it gets confusing. Names are just so much easier for readers to follow. So I'm sure it's easier for most people to follow Hurricane Amber heading towards them than Hurricane 1 or Hurricane A.