Q: Where do these odd winter storm names come from? When did they start giving the winter storms names and who names them? I don’t remember them ever having names before.
— Peggy Anderson, Cumming
A: The Weather Channel began naming winter storms a few months ago, but the National Weather Service declined to use "Nemo" as the name of the storm that blanketed the Northeast last week. It reserves names for hurricanes and tropical storms. Some news outlets used "Nemo" in their coverage of the storm, but others, such as The New York Times, did not. The National Weather Service told its forecasters not to use "Nemo" and told The Times that it doesn't name winter storms. Weather Channel meteorologist Bryan Norcross told The Times that the main rationale for naming winter storms "is to help raise awareness about the dangers of storms." Major Garrett of CBS News tweeted last week: "… I thought only Dairy Queen named Blizzards," but the Weather Channel has a list of names it's prepared to apply to winter storms. It includes: Gandolf, Draco, Luna, Khan, Plato and Yogi.
Q: When did the post office stop twice-a-day deliveries? I am old enough to remember them!
—William Johnston, Peachtree Corners
A: The U.S. Post Office stopped delivering mail twice a day in 1950 to save money. The USPS recently announced it was stopping Saturday mail delivery, starting in August.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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