A weak weather system passes by today and simply falls apart moving into the strong high pressure to our east. Next chance of rain is sometime Tuesday and then maybe Thursday or Friday. It’s not looking like a typical December, which is normally our wettest month. The mountain slopes are pleading for more snow.
A slowdown for the weather folks as no exciting weather is on the horizon. Goodness, I feel like kicking my feet up on my desk and reclining in my chair like the Maytag repairman.
Ever wonder why they started naming tropical storms like hurricanes, typhoons, and such? Well, I did, so I did a little reading on the subject several years ago, and here are a few items of interest.
An Australian meteorologist, Clement Wragge, (pronounced “rag”) began in the late 1800s to name some tropical storms with the names of people he had quarreled with or those he disliked. Clement was a weatherman whose nickname was “Wet Wragge” (don’t get the idea that all weathermen are all wet!).
To make the story more interesting, it seems that tropical storms in the region of Australia are called “willy-willies.” So Wet Wragge named those willy-willies after people he disliked. Not much of a friendly gesture now, is it?
During World War II, tropical storms were given female names, to attract the interest of soldiers. The names were kept until Australia in 1975 and the United States in 1978 drew up alternating male and female names to be allocated to these storms. These lists of names are alphabetical and are drawn up each year.
Tropical storms have many names around the world, in the U.S. they are called hurricanes; typhoons in the Pacific; cyclones in India; tropical cyclones in the Philippines; and of course, willy-willies in Australia.
Can you imagine if our Pacific Northwest storms had names? Let’s see, the forecast for tomorrow is increasing clouds with rain from Diane followed by showers with Eric and so on. Just imagine listening to the extended forecast! Thanks, Wet Wragge, wherever you are.
