Hurricanes, Typhoons, Tropical Cyclones, Oh My!

In order to understand hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones one must first understand the commonalities and differences between the three natural hazards.  First and foremost, hurricanes and tropical cyclones are the same.  Scientists use the reference hurricane to describe tropical cyclones.  The same goes for typhoons.  The only reason there is a difference between hurricanes and typhoons is their location.  Typhoons take place in the Pacific waters mostly affecting Southeast Asia and Japan.  Hurricanes occur off the waters of Western Africa and move slowly through the Atlantic waters towards the Caribbean and both the southern and eastern United States.  Typhoons are generally stronger than hurricanes because Pacific waters stay warmer for longer periods of the year.  These tropical cyclones get their strength from the warm, moist water evaporating from the ocean into the air along with the wind currents that are close to the ocean surface, which gives the tropical cyclone its spiral effect.  Generally, hurricane season runs from June 1^st to November 30^th of every calendar year while typhoon season runs from May 15^th to November 30^th.  The reason the typhoon season lasts longer is simply because there are scarcer amounts of cold weather patterns in the Pacific, thus the waters stay warmer for a longer period of time.

Sources:

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Natural Hazards and Disasters, 2^nd Edition by Hyndman

Group 3:

Shawn, Tyler and Lily