"MIAMI -- Responding to criticism after Superstorm Sandy, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday it would change the way it warns people about tropical storms that morph into something else."

"At the height of Sandy, as the hurricane knocked on the Northeast coast, forecasters at the center stopped issuing advisories and warnings because the storm merged with two cold-weather systems, lost its tropical characteristics and mutated into a hybrid megastorm.

Sandy lost the hurricane part of its name and the prestige that comes with the hurricane center's constant attention and reliable forecasts, and some people said that caused Northeast residents to underestimate its danger."

Jennifer Kay reports for the Associated Press April 4, 2013. [2]