What's the difference betweeen a cyclone and a hurricane?

Question

What's the difference betweeen a cyclone and a hurricane?

Answer 1

In general, it means any storm with a rotary motion.  In the US it usually means a tornado; in the far east it usually means what we would call a hurricane.

Answer 2

They are the exact same thing except for its origin. Cyclones form in the indian ocean, where hurricanes form in the atlantic and the eastern pacific ocean

Answer 3

Cyclone (Pacific Ocean)

Hurricane (Atlantic Ocean)

Answer 4

A cyclone is another name for a hurricane. A hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone are the same storms just different names.

-In the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans are called hurricanes.

-In the Western Pacific they are called typhoons

-In the Indian Ocean they are called cyclones

Go here for more info

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/tr...

Answer 5

Cyclone - a region of low air pressure associated with stormy weather. a tropical cyclone is called a hurricane or typhoon.

Hurricane - a severe tropical cyclone, with fast spiralling winds that can cause extensive damage.

Answer 6

Ok, people, hurricane has a precise meaning, but cyclone has numerous meanings. The storms that are called hurricanes in North America are called cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.  North Americans also have been known to use cyclone and tornado interchangeably.  Cyclone can also mean any strong and destructive wind.  To a meteorologist, it's a low pressure area of any size that rotates counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern.

Once you know ALL the meanings of cyclone, then the intended meaning should be clear from the context.

Answer 7

They are the same thing. The only aspect that determines which name to use is the geographic area at which they are located. Atlantic tropical storms are hurricanes, whereas their Pacific Ocean counterparts are known as cyclones.

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If you'd like more information, read this quote taken from cyswxman in a "best of answers" selection:

"These terms can be confusing because of how they are used. Technically, a cyclone (lower case) is ANY rotating low pressure system (rotating counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere). Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones (note upper case) are the same thing but are termed by where they exist. The tropical cyclone is called a hurricane (if sustained winds are at least 65 knots) over the Atlantic basin and the eastern Pacific Ocean, while over the western Pacific it is called a Typhoon. The same type of system is called a Cyclone over the Indian Ocean area (one recently struck Bangladesh)

A tornado is another type of cyclone that is born in thunderstorms. In some cases, tropical cyclones can produce many tornadoes if conditions are right."