The only set criteria is what the Weather Channel has made up in their little pea brains. This is NOT a standard that the National Weather Service or anyone else has ratified or uses. This is solely something that the Weather Channel has started using on its own like their ridiculous Torcon Index.
This is all about creating hype for financial gain and nothing to do with REAL weather forecasting or reporting.
A link to an article about how the rest of the weather community feels about this absurd naming of winter storms.
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www.examiner.com/article ··· -network