The tropical storm season is upon us, but for those landlocked or who just don’t know, the terminology and differences between a type of storm can get confusing. But the three main words tend to be variations of each other.
In a sort of a square is a rectangle type of way, the differences between a hurricane, cyclone, and typhoon tend to be few.
A cyclone is defined as a weather system that rotates around a center of low pressure while also including thunderstorms and rain, according to Webster’s dictionary.
The definition of a hurricane is a tropical storm with winds up to at least 74 miles per hour. National Geographic shared that hurricanes are the same as typhoons and tropical cyclones but happen in the Atlantic Ocean region.
Typhoons have the same requirements as hurricanes but are usually located in the northwest Pacific region. If the storm meeting these requirements happens anywhere else in the world, it is referred to as a tropical cyclone.
While locations for the storms matter depending on what they are called, they also have their own seasons in which they form.
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Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean is from mid-August to late October, peaking with an average of five to six storms a year, while storms in the Pacific and Indian Ocean tend to pop up between April and December, as peak storm season in the region is from May to November.
Hurricane Ian is currently expected to hit Florida, with meteorologists saying that storm surges could be 10 to 15 feet high, according to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. In St. Petersburg, Mayor Ken Welch shared on Monday that the damage could be substantial.
“This could be the storm that we’ve hoped would never come to our shores,” Welch said.
According to the National Hurricane Center, hurricane Ian has continued to strengthen, with sustained winds of 80 miles per hour. But the rapid intensification is expected to continue with winds forecasted to reach 105 miles per hour by tonight. If winds hit that speed, Ian will be classified as a Category 2 hurricane, but could reach Category 4.
Across the state, cities and counties have issued evacuation warnings as a state of emergency has been declared.
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