Image from wikipedia.com

By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News

In an ironic twist, the blizzard that The Weather Channel has named “Nemo” has arrived on the 125th birthday of French author Jules Verne.

Verne penned the classic novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” the protagonist of which was named Captain Nemo. Verne was born on February 8, 1828 in Nantes, France. 

In November, The Weather Channel announced that they would begin naming winter storms this season to better communicate the danger of impending severe weather events.

This season, The Weather Channel pulled inspiration from mythology and literature, putting out a list of 26 names for potential severe winter storms. 

Other names for winter storms this season included Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom; Freyr, a Norse god; and Iago, from Shakespeare’s play, “Othello.” The most recent snow storm, Magnus, brought major snowfall to the mid-west in late January.

“Nemo” has created quite a buzz, conjuring images of Captain Nemo and the animated clownfish made popular in Disney’s film “Finding Nemo.” But The Weather Channel’s definition of “Nemo” includes neither of those pop-culture characters. Instead, they say Nemo is “a Greek boy’s name meaning ‘from the valley.'” They also note that in Latin, Nemo means “nobody.”

The Weather Channel’s decision to name winter storms has gotten criticism from other meteorological organizations.

For detailed forecasts and up-to-the-minute closings and information, visit our Operation Snowball page.