LexBrew
Usage Entry 1309 / 1350 60-second read

Storm vs. Hurricane

Any severe weather event versus a specific tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 74+ mph.

The comparisoni

✗ Wrong

A thunderstorm is a hurricane.

✓ Correct

A thunderstorm is a storm — not a hurricane. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones with sustained winds of 74+ mph.

The ruleii

STORM = any. HURRICANE = specific.

STORM is a broad term — thunderstorms, snowstorms, dust storms. HURRICANE is a specific: a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic or NE Pacific with sustained winds of 74+ mph (119 km/h). Same storm in the NW Pacific is a typhoon; elsewhere, a tropical cyclone.

Memory aidiii

Remember it like this

All hurricanes are storms. Not all storms are hurricanes.

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