Since 1954, the meteorologists of the Berlin weather service at the Institute of Meteorology, Freie Universität Berlin, have been giving names to high and low pressure areas. Since 2002 anyone is able to choose a name through the Adopt a Vortex! program. These sponsorships  support the continuous meteorological observation in Berlin-Dahlem, so that the 100-year climate series, one of the longest anywhere, can be continued.

A sponsorship is a popular and rather unique gift for Christmas, birthdays, or special occasions. Some use this opportunity to make their interesting, but little-known first names more familiar. In January of this year “Daisy” brought unusual amounts of snow to an already long, cold winter. The soccer summer will also long be remembered, when the high “Zadok” caused temperatures in Germany during the Soccer World Cup finals to reach almost 39°C. About 1,600 people from 13 European countries as well as Japan and the U.S. have already participated as weather sponsors.

Many media use the names of the weather sponsors in their weather reports. The students and staff of the institute hope this will also continue in the future because only active public participation and presence in the media can secure the funding and continuation of the weather observation in the coming years.