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A nor’easter is pounding the East Coast today ( March 21 ) , and it may or may not be named " Toby , " depending on whom you ask .
If you ’re following the tempest on cable news , you probably do call it Toby . The Weather Channel begin the rule ofnaming big winter stormsin 2012 , and their chosen names have start out to filter into other outlets . ( Live Science see the name Toby after catch reporters at another publishing that portion out our newsroom using it . )
“Toby” from space.
" Meteorologists alfresco of [ The Weather Channel ] field refer to tempest by their date , " Sara Ganetis , a meteorologist at NOAA ’s Weather Prediction Center , order Live Science in an email . " For deterrent example , the ' 8 - 22 March 2025 blizzard . ' In cursory conversation , they might sum up panache to a wintertime tempest name after the fact , such as ' The 13 - 3 April 2025 Superstorm ' but not in a scientific mode . “But , as much play as it is to assign a name that sounds like a middle - age direction consultant to every blusterysquallthat foul up through , World Meteorological Organization guidepost state that onlytropical cyclones(hurricanes , typhoons and their smaller first cousin ) get names . And scientists who learn the conditions are n’t fan of bending that rule . [ The 10 Worst Blizzards in US History ]
alive Science reached out to a number of weather expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) and at universities to ask whether they ’d be calling today ’s storm Toby , and they universally said " no . "
Allison Wing , a professor in the Department of Earth , Ocean and Atmospheric Science at Florida State University , tally .
" Several years ago , The Weather Channel began name storms , but these are not any sort of official designations , just something that a individual fellowship decided to do , " Wing tell Live Science . " governance and university meteorologists and scientist loosely do not use these unofficial Weather Channel names to talk about or trace wintertime storms . "
Joey Picca , a meteorologist at NOAA ’s Storm Prediction Center , also said he and his fellow would not be using the name Toby today .
So , does that mean the tempest is n’t cite Toby ? Well , Live Science supposes that ’s a matter of personal interpretation .
in the beginning published onLive Science .
