From the Archive: Why We Name the Weather
The other day, Will Chase published a wonderful data visualization of retired Atlantic hurricane names.
🚨 New Project! With 2020 predicted to be a big hurricane season, now would be a great time to see my graphic feature in the August issue of @sciam, which shows the history and devastation of "retired" Atlantic hurricanes, the worst storms in our history 🌀🌀🌀 pic.twitter.com/3cTsUMeUa1
— Will Chase (@W_R_Chase) August 3, 2020
It reminded me of a piece I wrote a few years back for How We Get To Next (RIP). Why We Name The Weather runs through the long history of storm-naming, with detours into feminist activism, precipitation cannons and a man with "flaming red hair and the adjectival luxuriance of a bullocky". Here's a chunk:
Bolton also complained about the term “hurricane,” which she argued sounded too much like “her-icane.” She began using the term “him-icane” shortly afterwards. In a second letter, in 1972, she repeated her demands, adding that storms should be named after U.S. Senators, because they “delight in having streets, bridges, buildings” named after them.
It's published under a Creative Commons license so maybe I'll move it here one day. Until then, you can read it on Medium with no subscription necessary. Enjoy!
Duncan Geere