A tropical storm named Dolly formed over the Atlantic Thursday, just two days after the death of country music icon Dolly Parton, forcing forecasters nationwide to clarify that the timing was “purely coincidental.”
“The name Dolly replaced Diana after the 1990 hurricane season and was first used in 1996,” the National Hurricane Center said in a statement. Atlantic storm names come from six rotating lists established years in advance by the World Meteorological Organization, with Dolly already fourth on the official 2026 list, the center said.
But despite the explanation, the improbable timing still sent social media users into a tailspin.
“You’ve reached peak fame when the NHC has to issue a clarifying statement about a hurricane with the same name,” the popular X account @zerofoxgiven21 wrote.
Another X user delivered another take: “Even in death she’s working 9 to 5.”
Historian Richard Samuelson raised the possibility of another coincidence and asked his social media followers: “And it might hit on 9/5?”
Meteorologist Ryan Hall wrote that although the name had been selected long before the 80-year-old Parton’s death, it “still felt right to pull up the satellite and just watch it for a minute.”
Others were quick to take note of the storm’s projected trajectory.
Law professor and journalist Kate Klonick joked, “If Hurricane Dolly takes out Mar-a-Lago, we really do need to make her a saint, right?”
But meteorologists said the relatively weak Dolly was moving rapidly westward and was not expected to reach Florida.
“You know Dolly Parton was a beloved icon,” Florida meteorologist Matt Devitt posted Thursday, “when even the National Hurricane Center has to remind people why they had to use the name.”