JD Vance caught in a meme storm as namesake hurricane forms off Mexico

Hurricane Vance strengthened off Mexico's Pacific coast as social media users linked its name to US Vice President JD Vance. The coincidence sparked jokes and edited images, although the WMO name was predetermined.JD Vance caught in a meme storm as namesake hurricane forms off Mexico (Photo: @StormWarningMom/X)New Delhi,Oct 24, 2026 14:30 ISTWhile US Vice President JD Vance has been busy making political rounds, another Vance has been making its way across the Pacific, and this one has its sights set on Mexico’s coast. A storm named Vance strengthened into a hurricane on Friday, giving social media users an unexpected namesake to joke about.The hurricane, however, has nothing to do with the US Vice President. The name was simply next on a pre-decided list maintained by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations’ weather agency.It followed Hurricane Trudy, which had also strengthened off Mexico’s Pacific coast the previous week.The naming of tropical storms follows a system established by the WMO, with different lists maintained for various ocean regions. In the eastern North Pacific and North Atlantic, names are arranged alphabetically and alternate between male and female names. These lists are generally reused every six years, meaning a name can return to the roster regardless of who happens to be in the headlines at the time.Hurricane Vance's arrival nevertheless gave social media users plenty of material for jokes. Some posts cheekily congratulated the vice president on his supposed new hurricane status, while others joked that the storm had been named Vance so it could deliver some particularly cheeky, millennial-style energy. The jokes also took a visual turn, with users editing JD Vance's face into the eye of the hurricane, making it appear as though the vice president himself was at the centre of the swirling storm.Take a look at some of the memes here:The storm strengthened into a hurricane off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Friday. It was not the first time the name had appeared on the region's storm list.The previous Hurricane Vance developed in 2014 and reached Category 2 strength in November, but weakened before making landfall. Another storm with the same name formed in 1990, also off Mexico’s Pacific coast, without hitting land.The current list of eastern North Pacific storm names continues alphabetically after Vance, with Winnie, Xavier, Yolanda and Zeke next in line. The name Vance will not come around again until 2032, unless a storm bearing it becomes particularly destructive and the name is retired from future use.- Ends