‘Hide your couches’: Storm Vance sparks JD Vance memes on Social Media

A tropical storm named Vance has given social media users a fresh reason to poke fun at US Vice President JD Vance, with memes about hurricanes, Mexico and couches flooding online conversations.

The National Hurricane Center's announcement of Tropical Storm Vance in the eastern Pacific quickly caught the attention of users who spotted the name's resemblance to that of the vice president.

One user reacted with a string of laughter, asking how a storm named Vance could be real. Another shared a humorous image of a bald JD Vance surrounded by a hurricane.

The jokes did not stop there.

“Say hello to Vance. The Vice President will soon become a Major Hurricane,” one user wrote, playing on the storm's potential to intensify.

Another post took a political swipe, joking that the storm would head towards Mexico in a futile attempt to make the country pay for a wall.

But it was the couch jokes that brought back one of the internet's familiar references to the vice president. A user warned people to “Hide your couches” as Tropical Storm Vance developed, reviving a viral 2024 meme based on a false claim about JD Vance and couches. 

Other posts featured his face and sofa-themed humour.

Why is Tropical Storm Vance trending?

The online reaction comes as JD Vance faces attention over his criticism of Republicans who objected to Vivek Ramaswamy's attack advertisement against Dr Amy Acton. The ad featured Acton's estranged mother, Donna Arthur, calling her daughter a “liar”.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Vance was reported to be about 520 miles (835 kilometres) south of Acapulco, Mexico, with no immediate threat to land, according to The Associated Press. AccuWeather forecast that it could strengthen into a Category 3 storm and bring heavy rain, rough surf and gusty winds to Mexico's Pacific coast.

For social media users, the storm's name has become the punchline — and the couch memes are back.