Naming Winter Storms: A Brewing Controversy?

If you're a fan of The Weather Channel, you probably know that they have begun to name major winter storms. There are several reasons for this, including raising awareness about strong winter storms. You can read The Weather Channel's full reasoning for naming storms here.

But not everybody is thrilled with The Weather Channel's initiative. In fact, when "Athena" struck the East Coast earlier this week, the National Weather Service issued this bulletin.

As you can see, the NWS does not want people to use these names. But the question is... why? Some people might argue that while The Weather Channel is more than qualified to handle severe weather, they don't have the same qualifications as the NWS. Others say that since The Weather Channel is doing this without the cooperation of groups like the NWS, it might actually cause more confusion. The Washington Post has an article outlining some of the concerns here.

So what do you think? Do you like that The Weather Channel is naming storms? Do you think it will help or cause more confusion? Time will tell.