As Cyclone Nargis’ destruction is healed by the international aid community, Americans, Canadians and Britons are wondering aloud the difference between a cyclone and hurricane. In the Nothern hemisphere, the term hurricane is usually used to describe the kind of storm that recently hit Myanmar.
So what’s correct, cyclone or hurricane?
The generic term is actually cyclone. A cyclone is defined as a "violent rotating windstorm" that is "around a center of low pressure."
The difference is the hemisphere in which they arise: Cyclones occur in the Southern hemisphere and Pacific Ocean while hurricanes occur in the Northern hemisphere and Atlantic ocean. Thus most Americans are familiar with the term ‘hurricane.’
Cyclones and Hurricanes are the same type of storm with the exception that Hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean and Cyclones form in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Other than the name difference, they are the same type of storm.
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