Stormy names
Why “Zeynep” is called “Zeynep” but “Eunice” in the UK
Dark clouds over Geyen in Westphalia. The storm “Zeynep” moves from the west across Germany during the day.
© Federico Gambarini / DPA
“Zeynep” is a Turkish woman’s name and means “fragrant desert plant”. As a storm, however, the low should not come across as lovely. In the British Isles, on the other hand, the hurricane is called “Eunice”. That is the reason.
“Xandra” follows “Ylenia” follows “Zeynep” and the latter should give everything again: “Everything that’s on the terrace that isn’t nailed down, it’s best to bring it in and put it in the garage. Flower boxes or other objects should be removed from balconies,” says Christopher Rehnert, head of the Lüdenscheid fire brigade in the ARD “Morgenmagazin” about the strength of the expected hurricane with the Turkish woman’s name. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go so well with the character of the low-pressure area: Zeynep means “fragrant desert plant” or “father’s jewellery”.
Storm names: High costs 360 euros, a low 240 euros
The names for the weather conditions are given by the Berliner Wetterkarte Association together with the Institute for Meteorology at Freie Universität Berlin (FU) as part of the “Action weather godfather” forgive. Anyone can apply for the selection of names. A high costs 360 euros, a low 240 euros. High pressure areas have a significantly longer lifespan and therefore remain visible longer on the weather maps, the reasoning is given.
Power failure, traffic chaos, fallen trees – the storm “Ylenia” is so bad
18 images
Internationally, at the end of the 1970s, high and low pressure areas began to be given alternating male and female names every year. In Germany, it took another 20 years to adopt this rhythm, which was intended to avoid discrimination against women. Until then, it was common for lows (bad weather) to be given female names and highs (good weather) to be given male names. Meanwhile, even-year lows are given female names and odd-year lows are given male names.
About 50 highs and 130 lows are christened in Germany every year. However, the names are usually only valid here, sometimes also in Austria or in the Czech Republic and Poland. At the European level, the same weather pattern can have different names. “Zeynep” means “Eunice” in the UK. The initials X, Y and Z are not used there either. In Scandinavia, on the other hand, storms are often named as the date of their occurrence, in south-western Europe, where the remnants of earlier tropical storms arrive, their name is simply prefixed with “Ex-“. There is an international system for hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones.
And that’s what the next lows are called
The storm “Ylenia” was christened by a woman with this first name, as the website of “Aktion Wetterpate” reveals. “Xandra” had christened a Sandra and “Zeynep” a Julius K. The names for the next low-pressure areas have already been determined: “Antonia”, “Bibi” and “Claudia” follow. For the year 2022, all sponsorships have already been taken. Names for 2023 can be requested from September 7, 2022 at 00:00.
Sources: DPA, AFP, “Weather God Action”, RTL, German Weather Service