Don. That’s the name of the latest storm the National Hurricane Center is tracking. Just a cute coincidence parallel to President Trump’s given name. Not much to see here.
Until you read the storm advisory.
The storm was not considered particularly menacing and prone to fizzling out. The bulletin the National Hurricane Center released on Monday described Tropical Storm Don as “small” and “well defined” but “not particularly organized.”
The Washington Post relayed that the “disturbed” weather event had a “bleak future” and was “forecast to degenerate.”
This rocked Twitter like the proverbial hurricane.
“Tropical Storm Don not expected to become a hurricane, will dissipate within 72 hours. Low energy. Sad!” tweeted BuzzFeedStorm reporter Jon Passantino.
“Tropical Storm Don. A lot of hot air, going around in circles,” tweeted CNN commentator Ana Navarro.
Others quickly followed:
Tropical Storm Don will tell you how much damage it will do and then fizzle out and blame Hurricane Hillary.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) July 17, 2017
The year is 2017. The resistance is led by the National Hurricane Center. https://t.co/5m1pROvnkq
— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) July 18, 2017
First time a #tropicalstorm ever originated in #Russia #TropicalStormDon “Tropical Storm Don” pic.twitter.com/EzlpFhw6wz
— The Other Paper (@TheOtherPaper1) July 17, 2017
Warning “Tropical Storm Don” has just turned into a category 1 Covfefe
— Paul Michael Ainger (@ainger13) July 17, 2017
EVERYONE NEEDS TO CALM THE F DOWN ABOUT TROPICAL STORM DON!
It’s not going to do any damage.
It’s just here to discuss adoptions.
— Frederick Douglass (@HITEXECUTIVE) July 17, 2017
National Hurricane Center: We didn’t name the “small and not well organized” Tropical Storm Don after Trump.
Americans: Well played, NHC. pic.twitter.com/jd5KlWxZSy— Linda (@lindachilders1) July 18, 2017
“Don” was added to the list of storm names in 2006. Max Mayfield, the former National Hurricane Center director and chair of its naming committee, told the AP that Tropical Storm Don had nothing to do with the president. “I hadn’t even thought about that,” he said. “I guarantee you that it has no connection to Donald Trump.”
A National Hurricane Center spokesperson confirmed it was not a political choice.
Hurricanes have been named since 1951. The World Meteorological Organization has a committee in six ocean regions, each of which come up with a list of storm names every six years.
It’s shaping up to be an active season, at least for Twitter irony trackers. In the Pacific, the eighth name on the storm list is “Hilary.”
