Names for Winter Storms?

As we all know, for many decades, NOAA has been naming tropical systems. Who can forget Andrew, Katrina, or Wilma to name just a few. Well, now a national network has decided to do their own naming, not of hurricanes... but winter storms!  What you say?  Yes, The Weather Channel will start naming winter storms for the 2012-2013 winter season.

 

The say the reason for this is to raise awareness on the possible impacts of a winter system and this works better with a "named storm" since it is easier to talk about and remember.

 

Their procedure will be as follows:

• They will name it no more than three days before impact.
• They will include the potential for snowfall, ice, wind and temperature.

 

My only question is, since these names are not offered by an official government agency, no other broadcast organization will use them, so there is not one unified voice. This will defeat the purpose of  having a name to simplify the watches and warnings process. While the Weather Channel my use a name, CNN won't, nor will MSN or CBS or etc...

 

What do you think, good or bad idea?

 

 

Here is a list of the winter storm named for 2012:

 

Athena
Brutus
Caesar
Draco
Euclid
Freyr
Gandolf
Helen
Iago
Jove
Khan
Luna
Magnus
Nemo
Orko
Plato
Q
Rocky
Saturn
Triton
Ukko
Virgil
Walda
Xerxes
Yogi
Zeus