LexBrew
Usage Entry 1310 / 1350 60-second read

Hurricane vs. Typhoon

Same type of storm, different regional names.

The comparisoni

✗ Wrong

Japan gets hit by hurricanes every year.

✓ Correct

Japan gets hit by typhoons every year — in the NW Pacific, they're typhoons. In the Atlantic and NE Pacific, they're hurricanes.

The ruleii

HURRICANE = Atlantic. TYPHOON = NW Pacific.

HURRICANE, TYPHOON, and CYCLONE all describe the same weather phenomenon — a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 74+ mph. The name depends on location: hurricane (Atlantic/NE Pacific), typhoon (NW Pacific), cyclone (South Pacific/Indian Ocean).

Memory aidiii

Remember it like this

Same storm. Different sea.

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