Tropical Storm Don weakens as Hilary gathers strength

by Robin Eberhardt - 07/18/17 2:46 PM ET

Tropical Storm Don is set to scatter winds and rain across the Caribbean Sea Tuesday, weakening as another tropical storm — named Hilary — is expected to form in the Pacific Ocean.

The storms’ names are, coincidentally, strikingly similar to those of the 2016 presidential candidates.

Storm names are chosen using a strictly predetermined list decided by the Switzerland-based World Meteorological Organization. So when the Weather Channel reports that “Don is no threat to the United States,” the organization is not making a political statement.

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Max Mayfield, a former National Hurricane Center director who headed the committee that added Don to the name list in 2006, told the Associated Press the names were purely a coincidence.

“I hadn’t even thought about that,” he said. “I guarantee you that it has no connection to Donald Trump.”

The meteorological organization uses a rotating six-year list of names to label tropical storms, with the exception names — such as Sandy or Katrina — that get retired for sensitivity after deadly or costly storms.

Don is the fourth name on the list for storms in the Atlantic for 2017, while Hilary is the eighth name on the list for storms in the eastern north Pacific. The timing and location of the storms worked out for Don and Hillary to potentially face off once again.

Though the storms were not named for President Trump or former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, people on social media felt free to draw their own comparisons.

Tropical Storm Don. A lot of hot air, going around in circles. https://t.co/waH5NrcpjW

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) July 17, 2017

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