Winter Storm Nemo? Why is the Northeast Blizzard Named After a Cartoon Fish?

Nemo? The winter storm blizzard has found its own way to the Northeast, and its' preparing to drop a foot or more of snow on the very suspecting residents of New England and New York.

But why is it named after an orange cartoon clownfish?

Technically it isn't, sort of.

The National Weather Service only names hurricanes, not winter storms, so the Weather Channel graciously stepped in last year, much to the annoyance of the NWS.

Taking its cues from the lists of hurricane names the NWS releases, the Weather Channel compiled a long list of alphabetically-arranged names -- beginning with "Athena," each storm gets the next name on the list.

And since this is the 14th storm of the season, Nemo is up. As for the name itself, the Weather Channel insists it has nothing to do with the Pixar fish. Or Jules Verne's submarine captain. Or Little Nemo, the dreaming adventurer.

Instead, it's a Latin word meaning "no one" or "no man," according to Bryan Norcross, a Weather Channel meteorologist involved in selecting the names.

TWC tends to prefer names with mythological or literary roots -- so far this season they've used Athena, Caesar, Freyr, Iago, and Kahn. The National Weather Service clamped down on the use of the names among its employees. "TWC has named the Nor'easter 'Athena.' The NWS does not use named winter storms in our products. Please refrain from using the term Athena in any of our products," it said, during the first storm of the season in November.

Still, looking at the list of names to come reveals plenty of mutli-purpose monikers, so it's hard to imagine the Weather Channel isn't picking high-profile names, or t least interesting names that will sound good on television.

The next storm gets to be called "Orko." Sure, it's a Basque thunder god, but it's also He-Man's faceless magic-using friend from the old 80s cartoon.

After that comes Plato, a high-minded offering. Imagine the headlines: "Winter Storm Plato Drives Populace Into Caves to Contemplate Existence!"

Or something like that.

And then there's winter storm Q: all-powerful trickster and representative of the Continuum, or accomplished British inventor and weapons expert?

Explain that one, Weather Channel.