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• May 9, 2008 8:54 pm US/Mountain
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  Cyclone & Hurricane -- What's The Difference?

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Cyclone & Hurricane -- What's The Difference?

A cbs4denver.com visitor posed the question of what's the difference between a cyclone and a hurricane on Thursday. CBS4's meteorologist Dave Aguilera's reply lies below.

(CBS4) - By now you probably have heard about the devastating cyclone that killed an estimated 100,000 people in Myanmar. We have had a few CBS4 viewers wonder why this storm is being referred to as a cyclone and not a hurricane or typhoon.

This is one of those situations where meanings of words have changed over time.

In the early 1900s the terms cyclones and tornadoes were interchangeable. But, over time the term cyclone branched off to be used to describe any kind of circular wind storm. And these days the term "cyclone" has narrowed even further, now used to refer to strong tropical storms off the coast of India.

The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are, at this point in history, used to describe the same type of strong tropical storm that have winds of 75 mph or greater.

However, these strong tropical storms that develop over oceans are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. In the Western and Southern Pacific these storms are referred to as Typhoons.

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