Hurricanes? Typhoons? Cyclones?

Students may be curious to know what hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are and what are the differences between them.Firstly a storm is only considered a hurricane, typhoon or cyclone when it reaches speeds of 74 miles per hour (119kph).Secondly these intense weather systems are essentially the same. They are all tropical cyclones which occur at different Geographical locations during the course of the year.Hurricane in the CaribbeanGlobal spread of tropical cyclonesOceans and seas of the WorldHurricanes occur in the Eastern Pacific, Caribbean Sea and Northern Atlantic.Hurricanes rarely occur in the South Atlantic. In the Atlantic hurricane season takes place from the 1st of June to the 30th of November.Cyclones occur in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific.Typhoons occur in the Northwest Pacific. Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines was the 28th Typhoon of the year. On average there are 27 typhoons a year compared to an average of 11 hurricanes. The World Meteorological Association gives these events their names. However the Philippines possibly due to the frequency of events has its own naming system so Haiyan is known locally as Yolanda.So what are the weather conditions necessary for these tropical storms. Warm tropical water, moisture and relatively light winds are the key ingredients. Below is an animated guide to how Typhoons form. Animation of TyphoonsVideo from the Met Office explaining hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones. Finally students may want to know why these weather systems spiral well this is the Coriolis effect in action.Coriolis effect explained