Why were hurricanes named as females?
Here we go again, another bad girl has come our way once more, Ida. You know I have Idas in my family on my Daddy’s side, the Prices. My grandmother was named Lou Ida and one of her daughters was Ida Merle. Beautiful name and we thought about using that name for our daughter.
But as I watched the weather all weekend the idea came to me: Why are all the hurricanes named for women? Why indeed? Are we that notorious to stir up the elements? Are we mischievous enough that we wreak so much havoc and turmoil? Just look in the bible at all the bad girls, Tamar, Rahab, Delilah, and even a queen, Jezebel.
Some of us, I agree can be somewhat dangerous and ruthless at times, but what about the men?
I suggest the Bible once again. There were bad boys, too. There was Cain, the first murderer. Then there was King Herod, the Pharoah of Egypt, and yes even Satan, the “baddest” boy of all.
So why do we the female get all the names of the Hurricanes?
I am happy to tell you that now we share the names with men. Nice.
After researching the reasoning behind this information, I find that the National Weather Service, back in the 1950s was mimicking the habit of naval meteorologists who named the storms after women as ships of sea were traditionally named for women. Many weathermen began talking about the storms as if they were actual women and some even used cliches to describe the behavior of the storm. They were quoted to say, “Look at her changing her mind again and the winds flowing the other way just as we said they would go another direction.”
Many female meteorologists and feminist activists took offense. Then, in 1979, the US was persuaded to make a change because of the outburst of some women, and they went back to using some male names also. After this was decided, the Washington post in 1986 said male names didn’t convey urgency as the female names did. Really!!!
I can readily tell you that I know several men who would fit into this category as mischievous and turmoil makers, so I will be contacting the National Weather Service to give them several names for our “male” hurricanes.
I made this last night and it was delicious.
Blueberry Cream Cheese Loaf
2 T. flour to toss your blueberries in so they don’t settle on the bottom
2 cups blueberries
1 cup of melted butter
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 cups self-rising flour
Mix all except the blueberries with a mixer and then stir in blueberries so as not to crush them. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
