Tuesday
Sep082015
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill What's in a name?
Sep 8, 2015 Climate: MetOffice Climate: Sceptics ;)
One of the ideas that has been kicked around the green community for a while is to persuade the WMO and national met offices to name storms after prominent global warming sceptics.
As climate change continues to create more frequent and devastating storms, we propose a new naming system. One that names extreme storms after policymakers who deny climate change.
Now, with a certain air of innocence, the Met Office is suggesting that the public might like to suggest names for major storms that head our way this winter.
Hmm.
Reader Comments (55)
M Courtney, I'll bow out of the storm name competition but I want a mammoth instead.
Great fasces of bent, broken, sticks, flotsam on the reef of statistical analysis from the roar and the gales of Cyclone McIntyre.
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"As climate change continues to create more frequent and devastating storms..."
Oh God it's so boring.
No matter how many people point out that this isn't happening, this sort of stuff keeps on coming.
Will someone not rid of these turbulent priests?
'Winter storm Bishop'
Oh yeah, that's work.
'Winter storm Hill'.
Yup, another wow name.
'Winter storm WUWT'.
Now does that sound like a frightening storm?
Now if they went into some of the anti-science names.
'Winter storm Monbiot' or even 'Winter storm Moonbat'
Now that storm has a ring to it.
'Winter storm CRU'.
Almost a good name.
'Winter storm Slingo'.
Somehow, that one isn't a surprise at all. Haven't we already had that storm?
'Winter storm Jones'.
That should make folks run to protect their data.
'Winter storm ThinkProgress'.
Now, that is a scary storm; after all the antithesis of progress is thinkprogress.
'Winter storm RealClimate'.
Nah, no-one would take that storm seriously; just an ill wind blowing no good.
'Winter storm mann'.
Now that storm should cause people to hunker down and hide.
'Winter storm Santer'.
Now, that'd be a weatherperson's terrific announcement; "stay out of alleys during this storm people".
Sep 8, 2015 at 11:49 AM Green Sand
Having time on my hands, and noting that your link was from the "axis of alarmism" (Met Office, University of Exeter and University of Reading), I took a look at their database of 33 Extreme Wind Storms in the period 1981 to 2013 covering the European region 15°W-25°E, 35°N-70°N.
(a) On an "extreme wind storms/year" basis:
Year with most XWS - only 1 year with 6 storms - 1990 (3%)
Number of years with 3 storms/year - 6 - period 1984 to 1999 (18%)
Number of years with 2 storms/year - 6 - period 1988 to 2011 (18%)
Number of years with 1 storm/year - 12 - period 1981 to 2013 (36%)
Number of years with 0 storms/year - 8 - period 1982 to 2006 (24%)
So, apart from 1990, 32 of the years had between 0 and 3 "extreme storms/year", of which 20 years had 1 or zero "extreme wind storms/year".
No evidence of "more frequent and devastating storms" for Europe there surely?
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(b) On an "extreme wind storms/decade" basis:
Between 1981 and 1989 - 9 years - 11 storms - average - 1.22 storms/year
Between 1990 and 1999 - 10 years - 25 storms - average - 2.5 storms/year
Between 2000 and 2009 - 10 years - 7 storms - average - 0.7 storms/year
Between 2010 and 2013 - 4 years - 5 storms - average - 1.2 storms/year
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The label "... more frequent and devastating storms ... " does not seem to fit Europe for the 33 year period covered by the XWS team - so, no need for the Met Office to start "naming" European storms yet, surely?