Learning The Differences in Tropical Storms From Around The World! (credit: The Weather Network)

DISCUSSION: The only difference between a hurricane and a cyclone is the terminology. For those tropical cyclones which impact North America, we refer to them as hurricanes.  Alternatively, across the Australia/Indian Ocean region, they are referred to as cyclones.  You can also note from the image above that across eastern Asia and the western Pacific Ocean, they are known as typhoons.  Bottom line, these different parts of the world have different titles for the same fundamental type of storm.  These storms are all effectively large-scale storm systems which either spin in a counterclockwise direction (Northern Hemisphere) or a clockwise direction (Southern Hemisphere).  So, effectively, tropical cyclones which develop in different parts of the world all have similar structure as shown in the images below.

To learn more about other neat educational topics in meteorology from all over the world, be sure to click here!

~Weather Forecaster Christine Clements