The National Meteorological Office (Onamet) is following the track of newly named Tropical Storm Gonzalo. The storm has yet to cross through the southern Windward Islands as it moves on its west-northwest path. The Dominican Republic is not in its direct hit path. Nevertheless, the storm could always move north.
For Dominicans, meanwhile, the storm so far has brought many memes. Gonzalo is the first name of the government candidate who lost the 5 July presidential election. His full name is Gonzalo Castillo, but he was branded as Gonzalo. In the final weeks of the campaign, his campaign strategists saturated social media. Now, Gonzalo is back in the media. This time as the first possible hurricane to affect the country.
Gloria Ceballos, director of the ONAMET, clarified that the names of storms are not chosen here.
CNN reports that this is the earliest that a storm has received a name starting with the letter “G” since the United States began using a named-storm system in 1953. On average, the 7th named storm in a season is in mid-September. September is the peak month for hurricane activity historically affecting the Dominican Republic.
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22 July 2020