What is the difference in a Cyclone, a Hurricane and a Typhoon? Or is there?

Question

Is it possible that these are all just different names for big storms?

Answer 1

Your first answerer is right, but maybe doesn't quite get the nuance. All three are the same. Different parts of the world have different names for these storms. That's the only difference, which means that there is no difference.

Remember a couple of years ago when the weathermen predicted a lot of hurricanes, and we didn't end up having them? All the climate change deniers used that as evidence there was no global warming? Well, in that year, there were a record number of typhoons and cyclones... which meant the weather predicters were right and the 'no global warming' guys, as usual, were completely wrong.

A cyclone IS a hurricane IS a typhoon.

Answer 2

A Hurricane and a Typhoon are different names for an intense tropicle cyclone. Most storm systems are in the forms of cyclones, or anticyclones depending on your geographical location. In North America we refer to these as Hurricanes, in say Japan, the same thing would be called a typhoon.

Answer 3

It's regional.  Cyclone is the general term.   Hurricane and Typhoon are regional names that are applied to cyclones, depending on where the storm appears.