Ask Margaret
What are the differences between various weather
phenomena such as hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons?
Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons
are all tropical storms. However,
although basically the same, they
have different names that reflect the
geographical locations where they form
and take place. The hurricanes with
which we are all too familiar are the
tropical storms that form over the North
Atlantic and Northeast Pacific Oceans.
Cyclones form over the South Pacific
and Indian Oceans. Typhoons form over
the Northwest Pacific Ocean.
Meteorologists generically refer to
tropical storms as tropical cyclones
to designate the organized, rotating
system of clouds and thunderstorms
with high wind speeds that originates
over tropical or subtropical water.
The weakest tropical storms are
called tropical depressions. They are
named and become recognized as
by Margaret Word Burnside
tropical storms when sustained winds
exceed 39 miles per hour, up to 73 miles
per hour. When storm winds exceed
74 miles per hour, the storm is classified
as a hurricane or typhoon depending on
where it originated.
Tropical storms or cyclones have air
that spirals in toward the center. They
are made up of rain bands, the eye,
which is in the cloud-free center, and
the eye wall.
134 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
The difference between a hurricane
and tornado is primarily one of size and
duration. A tornado, which most often
happens over land, can be over in a few
minutes and be very small, only a few
hundred yards wide. Hurricanes can
cover hundreds of miles in diameter
and last for days and can spawn
tornadoes in their outer rain bands
once they hit land. Hurricanes have five
categories depending on wind speed.
The strongest is a Category 5, which
has winds faster than 155 miles per
hour. Cyclones in the South Pacific or
Indian Ocean at similar top speeds are
called tropical cyclones.
Typhoons can become stronger than
hurricanes and are more apt to develop,
since they form over warmer waters.
Typhoons tend to cause less damage
than hurricanes due to their location.
– J.S., Belleair
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