When did “cat” become a trend for hurricanes?

I try to be a glass half-full type person but I have moments where my pet peeves bubble up and I can’t hep but talk about it. Actually, I have a post about a few of my pet peeves here and I guess I should add another one to the list since hurricane season is bound to make me go crazy! Only one of these two reasons can be true for why news anchors and weather forecasters have swapped out “category” for “cat” when referring to the intensity of the summer storms.

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The efficiency of one syllable vs. three might be one reason for shortening ‘category’ to ‘cat’ or (and this is the real reason, in my opinion) it’s solely because of sensationalism. There’s something dramatic about saying ‘cat 5’ on air because it sounds more frightening, more intense.

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I guess it’s no surprise that, at the end of the day, ratings are the bottom line. It’s why Geraldo is/was so dramatic, Jim Cantore rose to fame, and (not to get political but…) why politicians seek fame. They want to be popular, have high approval ratings, and make money. But it’s only been in the last ten years or so that ‘category’ has been dropped for the more chic and melodramatic ‘cat.’

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-Out of the Wilderness