Dear Tom:
What is the difference between a cyclone, hurricane, typhoon and tornado? Thelma Braun, Lauderhill, FL
Dear Thelma,
The cyclone, hurricane and typhoon refer to the same storm. Each is an organized band of thunderstorms with a calm eye in the center that forms over ocean waters of at least 79 degrees. Winds are more than 74 mph and temperatures are uniformly warm across them. They are warm core storms – temperatures are warm aloft. The ONLY difference is geography: it’s called a hurricane in the south Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and eastern Pacific; a typhoon when west of the dateline in the Pacific; and a cyclone in the Indian Ocean and near Australia.
Tornadoes are a fraction of a hurricane’s size (up to half a mile across) and their life cycle is minutes – hurricanes last days or weeks.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His weather forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at noon and 9 p.m.
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