4 Weather and Passing Connections in my life as a Meteorologist

As a meteorologist and a medium I bring two different worlds together - Science and the afterlife. One thing that I find specifically connected to me is weather and signs from people who pass. It's NOT a coincidence. There's no such thing as a coincidence when it comes to spirits. Such has been the case of three tropical cyclones going all the way back to 2008, which is especially fitting, because my area of meteorology was tropical cyclones (before I retired). There have been four incidents and the first one happened years ago when my dad passed.

As a meteorologist, I know that the WMO, World Meteorological Organization maintains and updates the official rotating lists used to name tropical cyclones and hurricanes worldwide. In the Atlantic Ocean, there are six years' of lists that get recycled, unless a storm name is retired (causing too much damage or deaths). The name Dolly has been on the list for a long time. But it came up again this year... it was on the one of six lists.

Dolly Parton passed on August 25, 2026. I met her once and told her she taught me how to be a better person, and inspired my outlook on life. She was a mentor and guide for me on how to live my life. I learned optimism, hope, kindness, acceptance and love from her. I learned how to appreciate the simple things in life, from a sunrise to a hot cup of coffee, or a dog's cuddle. On August 27, 2026, I was not surprised about Tropical Storm Dolly formed during the week of her passing.

What's even more is that my friend Christopher in Maryland passed July 31st, and Tropical Storm Cristobal (the Spanish name for Christopher) formed just after his passing this year. Tropical Storm Cristobal was active from August 12 to August 13, 2026.The short-lived storm formed in the central subtropical North Atlantic on August 12 as the third named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. It reached peak winds of 45 mph before dissipating quickly without threatening any land.

In 2020, my dog Dolly (named for Dolly Parton) passed in October. Because the hurricane list is a 6 year list, her tropical namesake was also on the list of storms that year. Tropical Storm Dolly in 2020 formed on June 23 and dissipated by June 24, 2020.

In 2008, my dad, Edward, passed in August. In August of that year, during the week my dad passed, Tropical Storm Edouard (the Spanish name for Edward) formed in the Gulf of Mexico.  By August 6, 2008, Tropical Storm Edouard had come ashore in Texas. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of the storm at 2:17 p.m. local time (19:17 UTC) on August 5 as the satellite passed over the Gulf of Mexico and southwestern United States.

When it comes to spirits, there's no such thing as a coincidence. And when it connects with living people, that's even more proof.