On Friday, October 20, Storm Allen swept through France, bringing with it violent winds and heavy rain. Several departments have been put on alert by Météo France.
While Allen is currently making headlines in the media, a logical question comes to the fore: But why is this storm called Allen? In addition, why are storms named? Behind these first names today hides a well-defined system common to many European countries. But this was not always the case.
Since when do storms have names?
Meteorological observation has been a practice that has been carried out for centuries. But only in the twentieth century, during World War II, the idea of \u200b\u200bnaming meteorological phenomena appeared. At that time, it was the US Weather Service that decided to designate hurricanes forming in the Pacific Ocean with feminine names. The goal was to make them easier to follow and distinguish. The idea was so satisfactory that it was later extended to hurricanes that hit the Atlantic Ocean.
In Europe, it was the German student Carla Vige, who later became a recognized meteorologist, who was behind this initiative. In 1954, I proposed naming all the high-pressure eddies (anticyclones) and low-pressure (typhoons) sweeping through Central Europe to make it easier to follow maps. It is a proposal adopted by his university, the Free University of Berlin. However, until 1990, these names were only used by some German media.
Today, storms that require vigilance are systematically referred to by their first names. However, since 2017, not only is the Free University of Berlin no longer the parent, but meteorological services in several European countries including Météo France have decided to take over. Goodbye Storms Zynthia, Dirk and Herman and hello Storms David and Eleanor.
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How it works ?
This new naming system has been approved by Météo-France, its Spanish counterpart AEMET and its Portuguese counterpart IPMA. The British meteorological services – the Irish Met Office – Met Éireann – as well as the Dutch also cooperate. The principle of the new system is relatively simple.
Each year, the French, Spanish, and Portuguese partners create a list of first names that stick to every letter of the alphabet except Q, U, X, Y, and Z. The British, Irish and Dutch partners do the same with regard to first names. More Anglo-Saxon sounding. These two pre-defined lists will be used to name all storms in the coming year. Note that the meteorological services of the storm’s country of origin choose the name of the depression that will then be used in other countries.
When a service wants to issue an alert, it chooses a storm name that will remain the same throughout its life cycle, even if it then affects countries in the other group. The selection should follow alphabetical order: the season begins with storm A, then B, and so on.
Feminine or masculine?
With the new system implemented in 2017, pre-made lists alternate between female and male first names. So everything is just a matter of literal character, and thus a matter of the order in which the storm arrives.
However, before 2017, the system followed the Free University of Berlin system which alternated between female and male first names depending on the even or odd year.
Do all storms have names?
No, the naming system only applies to depressions that present a risk of triggering an orange wind alert (gusts of at least 100 km/h) in at least one of the countries concerned.
“Vigilance for regional winds such as Mistral is not taken into account“, specifies Météo-France.
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Why name storms?
If the initiative was initially intended to allow better meteorological monitoring, specialists note that it also made it possible to communicate its approach more effectively to the general public.
According to Météo-France, surveys conducted in the United Kingdom and Ireland have shown that residents become more interested in safety instructions when the risk of strong winds is clearly identified as being linked to a specific storm.
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