How Do Cyclones, Hurricanes and Typhoons Differ?

Tropical Cyclones are called cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons based on where on Earth the form. CREDIT: AccuWeather.com View full size image

Cyclone, typhoon and hurricane are all just different names for the same basic weather phenomenon.

They are all powerful, spinning storms collectively called tropical cyclones, which form over warm tropical waters and reach sustained internal wind speeds of 74 mph.

Hurricanes start in the Atlantic, Caribbean and northeast Pacific, while typhoons form in the western Pacific and southeastern Indian Ocean. If one of these monsters develops in certain parts of the Indian Ocean or part of the southwest Pacific Ocean, it goes by one of three variations of the generic term cyclone.

The storms are named according to seasonal lists kept by their respective basin's monitoring body.

Typhoons and hurricanes and cyclones all rotate in the same direction, counterclockwise, if they form in the Northern Hemisphere. So-called "backward" storms, which rotate clockwise, form in the Southern Hemisphere, though they are extremely rare in the Atlantic basin. Clockwise-rotating storms are more common in the Indian Ocean and off the coast of Australia, however.

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