It’s not often that tropical cyclone names coincide perfectly with political ongoings, but Hurricane Hilary is seemingly one such occasion.
Twirling around at over 120km/h in the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Hilary doesn’t pose any threat to the White House, or any other land for that matter.
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Instead, the storm is moving west away from the North American coastline. At present, it’s around 550km south of Manzanillo, Mexico.
It is however set to grow more powerful in the coming hours, possibly topping category 4 hurricane strength.
*insert comment about current political power balance here*
A few opinionated folk on Twitter had a few things to say about Hilary, and they weren’t exactly related to the weather either.
I just knew that Hurricane Hilary would take the path that kept her as far away from Wisconsin as possible. pic.twitter.com/IcRWfn5VEu
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) July 24, 2017
I’m not sure where the new hurricane is headed but it’s likely to lie about its direction and kill lots of innocent people! #HurricaneHilary
— Benton Blount (@bentonblount) July 24, 2017
After Tropical Storm Don was just a load of hot air, I love to see what evangelicals have to say if Hurricane Hilary destroys Mar-a-Lago. https://t.co/JEjAAx1f0I
— Facts Do Matter (@WilDonnelly) July 23, 2017
Live look at Hurricane Hilary’s devastation: pic.twitter.com/LrW3t6oTgH
— Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) July 18, 2017
Incidentally, Hilary is just one of three named storms calling the Pacific a temporary home this week, alongside Greg and Irwin.
And to make this story slightly stranger — as if the World Meteorological Organisation has some odd sense of politically-fueled humour — Tropical Storm Don also formed in the Caribbean earlier this month. It however fizzled out within 36 hours of being declared a Tropical Storm.
The last time Don and Hilary both featured in the news (that is, weather news) was 2011.
Feature image: Hurricane Hilary, 2011, NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Centre
