Minutes after Weather Channel had taken upon themselves to name the winter storm heading to Sandy-stricken Northeast as “Athena,” the National Weather Service intervened. In a bulletin, the NWS asked meteorologists to cease calling the winter storm by a name.
"TWC has named the Nor'easter Athena," the National Weather Service in Bohemia, New York said. "The NWS does not use name winter storms in our products. Please refrain from using the term Athena in any of our products."
The term "products" is what the NWS refers to as their forecasts and information.
Weather offices in the northeast understood not to call the storm Athena in their weather reports.
Weather Channel had started marketing the storm as Winter Storm Athena today, explaining to viewers it will bring cold temperatures, high winds and dump heavy snow upon the already devastated northeastern states caused by Super Storm Sandy.
"Winter warnings this early in the season, that is pretty significant for that area," Weather Channel winter weather expert Tom Niziol explained on-air at 8:50 a.m. EDT. "What really compounds this is the aftermath of Sandy, and that again is the main reason why we are naming this storm."
The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for New Jersey and parts of Delaware and Pennsylvania for Wednesday.
Wind gusts of 50 m.p.h. and snow were reported in Massachusetts by late morning.
Niziol mentioned from Atlanta that this new winter storm's "cold temperatures are going to combine with moisture from this extremely energetic system to produce the snowfall."
The weather service has named only tropical storms in the past and never has a winter storm been issued a formal name.
Some on Twitter called Athena a marketing tool by The Weather Channel to increase its ratings.
To keep the Weather Channel's season moving, the network also issued a complete list of alphabetical names for the 2012-13 winter storms.
Roman names will follow the Greek Athena with Brutus and Ceasar – that is, if the nation's premier weather office does not step in to firmly halt the names.
