What is the difference between Hurrianes, Tornados, Twisters, Cyclones etc.?

Answer 1

good question. These two phenomena are vastly different. About the only commonality is their cyclonic flow and their destructive nature. The tornado forms in very unstable air with warm moist air flowing from the south near the surface and with dry and strong westerly flow at higher altitudes. They form out of existing cumulonimbus clouds without very much warning time and last only less than an hour.

Hurricanes form in the tropics generally between 10 and 15 degrees north latitude. They form when monsoonal winds (southwesterly winds) develop south of the trade winds (easterlies). This provides the trigger for cyclonic circulation. The surface temperature must be > or equal to 28C and there must be very little shear (large changes in wind direction or speed with altitude) which could remove any latent heat that has been generated by condensation of water vapor and which contributes to a developing low pressure center. The developing storm grows out of an area of disorganized cumulus clouds called a convective cloud cluster, grows into a tropical depression at which time it is given a number, tracked and monitored by both satellite and aircraft. From a depression it will deepen (Lower pressure) into a tropical storm (when it is given a name) and finally a hurricane.


Twisters are just another name for tornadoes. Cyclones is the name given to both extratropical low pressure centers along fronts in the mid and higher latitudes as well as tropical storms that form entirely in the tropics. Hurricanes that form in the Indian Ocean are even called Cyclones instead of hurricanes. And finally whirlwinds are generally of the dustdevil variety. But these occur on much smaller time and spatial scales than tornadoes which in turn occur on much smaller time and spatial scales than hurricanes.

Answer 2

Hurricane and typhoon are just different names for the same thing: a strong tropical cyclone. Cyclonic storms are those that have rapidly rotating winds around a center, usually originating over warm water. Twister is a nickname for tornado, which is a very small cyclonic storm that originates out of a local thunderstorm. The big difference between tropical cyclones and tornadoes: energy. A strong tropical cyclone operates on the equivalent energy of a 10 Megaton nuclear bomb going off every 20 minutes! And these cyclones can exists for hundreds of hours! A tornado, which usually exists for only a few minutes at most, doesn't even contain as much as .00000001% of the energy as hurricanes like Katrina or Ike.

Answer 3

The main differences are their sizes and how they are generated. Technically, cyclones refer to any counter-clockwise rotating low pressure systems (in the northern hemisphere). Tornadoes are also known as twisters, which come from a small number of severe thunderstorms, while the much larger systems that form over warm tropical waters include hurricanes and typhoons (same thing as a hurricane, just over the western Pacific Ocean).

Answer 4

A hurricane starts out in the water. A cyclone starts on land, then picks up water later when moving by it. A twister isn't a tornado until it touches down to the ground.

Answer 5

Hurricanes and cyclones are tropical revolving (counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere)storms forming over sea whereas tornados and twisters are revolving, violent type of thunderstorms forming over land with a funnel type of cloud at the base.

Answer 6

all of them have devasting winds, only some form on land others on water