Snow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice. No matter how much of it falls; no matter how quickly it accumulates; no matter how awful it makes commuting, it is still just a natural weather occurrence. It is NOT akin to Armageddon, the apocalypse, or the holocaust. In terms of weather catastrophes, snow is considered more of a nuisance than a threat. Compared to hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornados, snow is a just a schoolyard bully. Sure it can make your life difficult, but it can be handled. It doesn’t matter if you’ve experienced snowfalls of 40 feet within a month, it still does not compare to the 2005 tsunami in Phuket, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, or Hurricane Katrina. So why are meteorologists comparing snow to mass genocide or the end of the world?
Made-up compound words like “snowmageddon”, “snowpocalypse”, or “snowlocaust” are catchy terms meant to either scare the audience into watching or else put a light-hearted spin on frustrating weather...honestly, I’m not sure which. What is also does however, is belittle the actual meaning of the terms Armageddon, apocalypse, and holocaust. I personally experienced last year’s “snowpocalypse” and while it led to awful commutes and trips to the supermarket it was far from the end of the world. Naming snow storms with catchy made-up compound words seems like an odd trend to me. Weather systems do not need catchy compound names like celebrity couples. I’m putting an end to it.
Weather phenomena may not be referred to with catchy compound titles.
As always I remain your all-powerful and benevolent Queen of the World,
Marisa
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