Well, Disney Fanatics, it actually happened.
Earlier this year, we reported that a Tropical Storm or Hurricane could be named after the Beauty and the Beast villain, and he has officially arrived on the scene. But luckily, it does not appear that he will be storming the Castles of Walt Disney World any time soon. In fact, the named storm appears to be closer to the namesake’s provincial French village than Central Florida.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Tropical Storm Gaston formed Tuesday evening a thousand miles west-southwest of the Azores with maximum winds of 40 mph moving north-northeast at 17 mph. It’s expected to remain a tropical-storm strength as it approaches the Azores before hanging a left and heading northwest while becoming extratropical on the weekend.”
The National Hurricane Center shows Tropical Storm Gaston in the Atlantic Ocean, headed towards the Portuguese Islands, which are a crucial port of call for Disney Cruise Line ships attempting to make the transatlantic crossing from its European ports to Port Canaveral, Florida, and Miami.
The weather team at Spectrum New 13 also shows the storm never being able to reach full hurricane status and becoming too weak to even be called a Tropical Storm by this weekend.
Related: List: The Craziest Weather to Ever Hit Disney World
But while this Tropical Storm Gaston was very short-lived, there is a chance we will see another one in a few years. According to Farmer’s Almanac, “Atlantic tropical cyclone name lists repeat every six years unless a storm is so severe that the World Meteorological Organization’s Hurricane Committee votes to retire that name from future lists.” But this is, of course, contingent upon the 2028 hurricane season having enough namable storms to reach Gaston.
Meanwhile, after leaving Puerto Rico without power, the now Category 3 Hurricane Fiona is beginning its push north, staying well east of Florida, but is expected to deliver some stormy weather along the coast. There is also a currently-unnamed storm further south with early sights apparently set on the Central Caribbean. It is still too soon to tell what kind of effect this storm could have on any Disney World or Universal Orlando vacations. If it does form, it will be called Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hermine.
Keep an eye on #Invest98L with us as we will continue to track this feature over the next 7-10 as many of our models track it into the #GulfOfMexico. #weshwx pic.twitter.com/MYoLRndABV
— Tony Mainolfi (@TMainolfiWESH) September 20, 2022
We at Disney Fanatic will continue to monitor the Tropics and report storms on how they can affect Disney World or Disney Cruise Line vacations as more developments come to light.