What's the difference between a tornado and a cyclone?

Question

They keep calling the Myanmar disaster a cyclone. I always thought they were the same.

Answer 1

Tornados occur on land, a Cyclone occurs on water, specifically in the Pacific area. ( Hurricanes occur in the Atlantic, it's just a naming thing)

Answer 2

I THINK cyclones are more like hurricanes then tornadoes

Answer 3

I think the easiest way to answer this question would be to define all three for you!

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from the base of a cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) cloud and touches the ground.

A hurricane is another name for a tropical cyclone. It's a warm core low pressure system that evolves over large bodies of warm waters. Tropical cyclones have organized circulation, and depending on how strong the sustained winds are...they are classified the following ways.

A tropical depression is a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph or less. A tropical storm is a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds between 39 and 73 mph. A hurricane is a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or more.

Finally, a cyclone is another name for a hurricane in other parts of the world (Indian Ocean). A cyclone also refers to a low pressure system.

Answer 4

I think it depends on what hemisphere the event takes place in.

Answer 5

The difference is that a tornado is a viollently rotating column of air with one end on the ground and the other in a cumulonimbus cloud. They occur over land generally. Acyclone is a violent area of circulating wind in a low pressure cell which usually occurs over the ocean. The winds rotate clockwise in the Northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern hemisphere. There are many sub-categories of cyclones tho, and the term is not frequently used due to the great variance in the storms.