A storm named Vance has strengthened into a hurricane in the eastern Pacific off Mexico, according to reports. The name has made it a subject of memes about U.S. Vice President JD Vance. The two are unrelated.
The storm
Vance formed as a tropical storm on Wednesday, Oct. 21, about 520 miles (835 km) south of Acapulco. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said then that it posed no threat to land, with maximum sustained winds of about 40 mph (65 km/h). It moved slowly in its early days, and forecasters expected gradual strengthening.
Reports say it became a hurricane on Friday and is moving toward Mexico’s western coast. I could not confirm its current intensity or track. Residents of Mexico’s Pacific coast should follow the Hurricane Center’s advisories and Mexican authorities for the latest forecasts and any watches or warnings.
Why it is called Vance
Storm names in the eastern North Pacific and the North Atlantic come from alphabetical lists prepared in advance by the WMO, alternating male and female names. The lists repeat every six years, so the names have nothing to do with who is in the news. Vance is the next name on the current list after Trudy, a storm that earlier strengthened into a hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Social media users have joined the name to the vice president’s prominence, with jokes about him taking on “hurricane duties.” Some have posted edited images placing his face at the center of the storm.
Earlier storms of the same name
The name has been used before. Hurricane Vance formed in the eastern Pacific in 2014 and reached Category 2 strength in November. It weakened and dissipated without making landfall. A storm of the same name reportedly formed off Mexico’s Pacific coast in 1990 and also stayed away from land.