Ever since 1954 the meteorologists at the Berliner Wetterkarte of the Institute of Meteorology, Freie Universität Berlin, have been naming high- and low-pressure areas. Since 2002 they have involved the public in the naming process through their Adopt-a-Vortex program. Through this program, meteorological observations in Berlin-Dahlem have been supported so successfully that once again this year, it was possible to achieve the goal of continuing the world's longest series of weather observations.

A sponsorship is a popular and rather unique gift for Christmas, birthdays, or other special occasions. Some use this opportunity to make their interesting, but little-known first names more familiar. Certainly the hurricane low named "Kyrill" will long be remembered by many people. This also applies to the cold high "Angelika," which at the beginning of 2009 caused temperatures below minus 20 degrees. So far, over 1400 individuals from 13 European countries, Japan, and the U.S.A. have participated in the program.

The names of the weather sponsors appear in the weather reports of many media. The students and employees of the Institute of Meteorology hope this continues in the future because it is only  through active participation by the public and presentations in the media that it will be possible to continue financing the weather observations for the next few years.