CdA to name winter storms after characters from Disney

The Little Mermaid is cute, with her seashell bikini and green fish tail.

But Ariel, the red-headed lead in the Disney movie, doesn’t exactly convey the idea of a raging winter storm. Nonetheless, Coeur d’Alene’s first big storm of the season will be named in her honor.

The second will be named after the lovable deer Bambi and the third after the spotted-puppy stealer Cruella DeVille.

“That will be a cruel one,” joked Jon Ingalls, the city’s street superintendent.

Fernan third-grader Jake Steinberg’s list of Disney names was selected as a winner for the street department’s Name the Winter Storm Contest on Thursday. The city also chose a winner for the 2005-‘06 winter storm season, Morgan Atha, of Sorensen Elementary. Morgan suggested naming storms after city streets.

Winning students received a certificate and a city street sign with their name on it.

The storm contest is a fun take on the tradition of naming hurricanes. Instead of sticking with men’s and women’s names, though, the street department has allowed kids to get more creative. Past storms have been named after Harry Potter characters and animals.

Both Jake and Morgan came up with storm names through the letter N (Nala and North Street). Ingalls said he understands this winter might not have enough gusto for that many storms, though. Last year’s storm season wrapped up with Storm Horny Toad, Ingalls said.

Of all the storm names he came up with, Jake said, Mickey Mouse was his favorite.

Ingalls said the contest is fun, but the storm names also serve a purpose. The city is tracking each storm and keeping track of everything from the length of time it takes to plow the streets to the number of complaints, phone calls and mishaps, like mailboxes being hit by plows.

Plowing accounts for only 15 percent of the street department’s budget, but Ingalls said people tend to rate the department on how it does in that area more than any other.

“Snow removal is a big deal,” he said. By analyzing the data and developing new strategies, Ingalls said, the city has been able to decrease the time it takes to plow city streets by 25 percent. Snow gates on many of the plows allow the city to avoid creating berms in front of driveways, he added.

After receiving his award, Jake and his classmates got a chance to explore snowplows and other city vehicles in the school parking lot. They sat side by side in the bucket of a bulldozer and climbed up into the cabs of snowplows, a bucket truck, a grader, a roller and a water truck.

Jake said he came up with the storm names by reading a book about Disney characters.

“Mostly, I just watch the shows too much,” the 8-year-old said.