What's In a Name?

  We have had an interesting winter. Drought in the West, Freezing rain in the South, and piles of snow in the Northwest. We've even become acquainted with some new names like

Ole??

Many of our news-worthy events are labeled with a name. Newly discovered planets and comets earn historic names such as Hayley, Saturn, Mars,etc. Winter events are alphabetically named and this winter has created several events with well-known names as well as some unprintable ones. Unusual conditions have found our Western areas warmer than usual, while the Central states seem to be colder than normal. Lately, the Eastern seaboard and northwest states are now experiencing an unbelievable string of storms.
Weather forecasters watched the developement of a series of weather fronts moving through the US ,recently. When two opposing forces meet, there is often a serious reaction.

Octavia? Ole?? Things are becoming weird!

Winter storms usually form when an air mass of cold, dry, Canadian air moves south and interacts with a warm, moist air mass moving north from the Gulf of Mexico. The point where these two air masses meet is called a front. If cold air advances and pushes away the warm air, it forms a cold front. Winter storms develop when low pressure systems come into contact with a cold front or a warm front,resulting in snow and freezing rain. Residents were told to be ready for a winter storm named "Juno". 

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Juno

The name Juno is from Roman mythology, a goddess who looked after the women of Rome. This time, serving both sexes equally. Monday, January 26, the Northeast braced for "Winter Storm Juno", which threatened to become a major snowstorm with potentially historic blizzard conditions. Juno was a record snowstorm for Worcester, 31.9 inches fell in Worcester on Jan. 27, alone! And that was only the beginning!

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Only a week later, another "front" became a threat and was named "Marcus", the ancient Roman Emperor and Greek god Mars, the god of fertility war, and spring! Storm number 2 began February 9th and was expected to be a slow mover, and the snow began to pile up with an additional 20 inches of snow before it let the area.

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Neptune

Not to rest long, three days later, on February 14th, Valentine’s Day, another northeastern winter storm was quickly in weather news. This time," Neptune", the Greek god of freshwater and the sea roared into town with blizzard warnings in eight states; heavy snow, high winds, and brutal wind chills started it out with an additional snowfall rates of two to three inches per hour .The city decided to borrow snow melting machinery from New York City while dumping snow in vacant parking lots, now called "snow farms". The 'storm of the week'. Happy Valentine's Day!

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Octavia

However, Mother Nature was not finished. Weather watchers reported another problem! A region of freezing rain, sleet and dangerous conditions coming from the south. Arriving in the upper northwest February 15th, snowmovers had to find room for the additional snow of Octavia. 

 "Octavia " was the sister of the first Roman Emperor and known for feminine virtue and humanity. This time, it was for a snowfall of an additional twenty inches of   snow, totaling an estimated eight feet of snow on the ground, numerous icy accidents and winter problems , with still another week to go in February. February will be long-remembered in New England as a major snow month. Eight feet of snow in less than a month!
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We usually think that our Scandinavian friends are accustomed to snow on the ground for many months. Therefore, winter storms must be  normal happenings and our current weather patterns would be nothing unusual 'overseas'. Things do seem to be more calm in Norway's weather this winter. However, their year began,  weather-wise early, as weather reports of the first weather storm of 2015 in Norway took shape under  the name of "Nina". Nina has an interesting story. She was the ancient goddess of health, healing and helping civilization!  What happened??

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Nina

Extreme winter storm ‘Nina’  hit the west coast of Norway on January 11, with wind speed of 166 kmph. The hurricane strength winds left over 73,000 household without power, uprooting trees, tearing up infrastructures . A  reporter noted : "Never before has it been measured so much, so early in the year." According to several weather reports, this winter storm had been strongest in last 20 years. Snow-covered cabins are in danger of  roofs collapsing . Weather advisors are offering advice based on years of construction. Older cabins are vulnerable,"Cabins built after 1980 varies as to how they are designed. In practice, one should shovel the roof when snow depth begins to approach 1 meter (39 inches)." Apparently, rooftop snow depth under 3 feet is not really a problem in Norway!

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Following this hurricane-force storm, TV listeners were informed that still another weather pattern was soon to arrive! However, "this one would not be as severe". This one would be called "Ole". Ole

 doesn't have any mythical background. Everyone knows Ole. But this one was no joke!

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Washed out bridge

Ole arrived February 7th , virtually dividing Norway in two when the major Highway E6 was closed at Namskogan in Nord-Trøndelag county. The road surface on a key bridge had been washed away. E6 is the only road between Southern and Northern Norway, and there was no possibility for a detour, according to NRK reports. The only possibility would be to drive via Sweden!

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There were numerous reports of damage caused by the storm that hit.  in Lofoten, a number of households were without electricity. It took take days to restore the damaged grid, as several blocked roads made it difficult for the repair crews to reach the damage spots. Hurricane-force winds caused waves of  twenty-five meters in height that destroyed shoreline buildings and fisheries.  Ole turned out to be a major storm.

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During discussion about winter storms,one listener inquired as to why all storms  had a name. The answer: "It's simply easier to communicate about a complex storm if it has a name" said Bryan Norcross, senior hurricane specialist at The Weather Channel and compiler of the name list.   "Good communications benefits everyone."

There will be many people rejoicing at the arrival of spring, however, the huge piles of snow will be melting and  floods and sandbags will again be in the news!  All that melted water will have to go somewhere.

 Another well-known name : "Mother Nature"

  and she's  tricky!