Spring has sprung – it's astronomical!
Spring! Here comes the Sun! Welcome to the first day of spring, a day in which Earth's northern hemisphere residents have high hopes they won't have to deal with frigid weather and ice storms for many months – and you'll be free of The Weather Channel, and its ridiculous practice of “naming” winter storms. Ridiculous? Trillium beginning to bloom at Enlow Fork, Greene County, Pa. in 2018. You see, the winter storm names are native to The Weather Channel. No government service uses them ; they're not official in any way! You won't hear them from the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, not even the Punxsutawney Center for Marmota Monax Predictions. In fact, as an editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in years gone by, I crafted an edict backed by the editor that these winter storm names NOT be used in print or online products. Simply, I believe, the use of winter storm names is a clever way of promoting The Weather Channel. Ye