Blizzard 2013: Why is it Called "Nemo?"

"I'm ready to fight Nemo," I announced to the woman at the Stop and Shop checkout lane. My cart was packed with blizzard appropriate snacks, batteries and dog food.

Wait — Nemo? I could see on her face.  Yes, this impending, historic blizzard shares a name with the naive yet adorable Disney clownfish who got abducted into the scary, unfamiliar world of the ocean.  Fighting Nemo sounded almost cruel; definitely awkward.  

Since when do winter storms have names anyway?

The weather channel reports they started dubbing winter storms this season. A named storm is easier to follow, which the weather experts says helps people prepare.  

The last winter storm was named Magnus.  

Magnus —  “I’m ready to fight Magnus.”  What a ring that has.  Magnus is the Father of Europe or Charlemagne the Great, in Latin.  This father of storms left a modest dusting in the midwest that barely impacted rush hour traffic.

The next winter storm will be named Orko, or the thunder god in Basque mythology.  Who wouldn't want to trudge through snow and curse the thunder god with our shovels?  

In contrast, Nemo, the namesake for this potentially record breaking storm, means "nobody" in Latin.  

Boy did they get this wrong.  What do you think? Tell us in the comments!

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