My tropical storm has a first name, it’s F-A-B-I-O! But really you guys, the latest weather system ravaging its way across the Pacific is named Fabio. So far the storm doesn’t pose a threat to any land besides a tiny island, so you don’t have to feel weird about any sexual feelings this swirling mass of wind and rain might be bringing up for you. Apparently “Fabio” has been on the World Meteorological Organization’s list of storm names since 1982, when it replaced “Fico,” the name of a particularly devastating hurricane. According to The Weather Channel, 1982′s Hurricane Fabio “followed a path similar to the one expected for this year’s Fabio, staying well offshore. Afterward, Fabio returned every six years. Storms named Fabio brought locally heavy rainfall to Hawaii as remnant lows in 1988, 1994, and 2006, while the 2000 version of Fabio was a tropical storm that affected no land.”
As much as I like to think the storm-naming meteorologists had a thing for bodice rippers, the Weather Channel points out, “Fabio’s first appearance on the cover of a romance novel was for Hearts Aflame in 1987…So it would appear that ‘Fabio’ the storm came before ‘Fabio’ the model and actor.” [The Weather Channel]
