Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones are all names given to the same type of extreme weather disturbances, intense lower-pressure systems that bring in powerful winds and rain and can potentially cause millions of dollars in damage once they hit land. But just what are their differences, and why give them different names?
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The term used by meteorologists for these developing weather disturbances is tropical cyclone. A tropical cyclone is born when moisture, warm tropical waters, and light winds combine with a weather disturbance. As the winds of the tropical cyclone get stronger, the closer it gets to either being a cyclone, hurricane, or typhoon. The target wind speed is 75 miles per hour. Once it hits that, the name changes, into one of the three.
And once the newly-formed hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone sustains its conditions over a given period, it brings on new and more devastating conditions such as torrential rains, and huge oceanic waves.
So, why the need for three different names? The names were coined to distinguish the location of the weather disturbance.
Hurricanes happen over the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific. Typhoons, on the other hand, form over the Northwest Pacific. Cyclones occur in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.
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