Hurricane Fabio, Fabio (Weather Channel/AP/File)
Hurricane Fabio formed in the Pacific Ocean over the weekend as expected. The slow-moving storm--packing winds of 105 mph and moving west-northwest at 9 mph--is not expected to make landfall. But that hasn't stopped meteorologists from cracking Fabio jokes.
"As soon as those of us at The Weather Channel saw that Fabio would be the next named storm in the eastern Pacific," Nick Wiltgen wrote on Weather.com, "the jokes started flying."
"We should have long, flowing blond hair trailing behind the tropical storm symbol," one unnamed Weather Channel employee suggested.
Hurricane Fabio is the fifth of the 2012 Eastern Pacific hurricane season.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, which is responsible for the lists of storm names, the first Hurricane Fabio formed in 1982--five years before Fabio Lanzoni, the Italian-born actor-model-punchline, appeared on the cover of a romance novel "Hearts Aflame."
"We can joke because Fabio is no threat to any land areas," Wiltgen added, "save for tiny Clarion Island with its Mexican military garrison staffed by a handful of soldiers."