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whats the difference in a cyclone and a hurricane?
- Thread starter SoKlueles
- Start date
T
the_clockwork
Guest
A cyclone is a low pressure atmospheric mass. In the northern hemisphere they rotate counterclockwise. A high pressure mass is called an anticyclone and rotates clockwise.
I've often wondered why we don't have violent high pressure events. Maybe someone could tell me that... ;-)
Anyway, we DO have various violent low pressure events. Under certain circumstances, a cyclonic mass can get itself worked up into a frenzy and it will start winding itself up faster and tighter as conditions permit, until you end up with a hurricane.
Oddly, just a couple of weeks ago I actually heard a weatherman refer to Hurricane Isabel as "a cyclone". This surprised me because I had always held them to be separate entities.
Atlantic hurricanes are birthed almost entirely in one of two places: the Gulf of Mexico and the west coast of Africa. Interestingly (and I may be wrong here), the African low pressure pockets seem to form over land, and then pinwheel on out to sea on a journey to the Caribbean.
Hurricanes and typhoons are the same animal depending on where you live. In the Atlantic (and often the North American Pacific coast, where they are quite rare) they are called hurricanes. Everywhere else in the world they are called typhoons.
Cyclones, hurricanes and tornadoes. To swipe a line from the 3 Stooges, they're all "the same thing...only different".
To go a step beyond your question, tornadoes are a special breed of spinning low pressure air mass. For one thing, we still don't know for sure how they form. One big theory scientists were studying about 10 years ago was the possibility that fluid mechanics generated rapidly spinning HORIZONTAL tubes of air inside storm cells. Somehow these tubes are knocked off kilter and one end of a tube (or tubes) would suddenly start descending towards the ground. (and I now wonder what came of that study/theory?)
Well, that's my 2 cents. Hope it helps...
I've often wondered why we don't have violent high pressure events. Maybe someone could tell me that... ;-)
Anyway, we DO have various violent low pressure events. Under certain circumstances, a cyclonic mass can get itself worked up into a frenzy and it will start winding itself up faster and tighter as conditions permit, until you end up with a hurricane.
Oddly, just a couple of weeks ago I actually heard a weatherman refer to Hurricane Isabel as "a cyclone". This surprised me because I had always held them to be separate entities.
Atlantic hurricanes are birthed almost entirely in one of two places: the Gulf of Mexico and the west coast of Africa. Interestingly (and I may be wrong here), the African low pressure pockets seem to form over land, and then pinwheel on out to sea on a journey to the Caribbean.
Hurricanes and typhoons are the same animal depending on where you live. In the Atlantic (and often the North American Pacific coast, where they are quite rare) they are called hurricanes. Everywhere else in the world they are called typhoons.
Cyclones, hurricanes and tornadoes. To swipe a line from the 3 Stooges, they're all "the same thing...only different".
To go a step beyond your question, tornadoes are a special breed of spinning low pressure air mass. For one thing, we still don't know for sure how they form. One big theory scientists were studying about 10 years ago was the possibility that fluid mechanics generated rapidly spinning HORIZONTAL tubes of air inside storm cells. Somehow these tubes are knocked off kilter and one end of a tube (or tubes) would suddenly start descending towards the ground. (and I now wonder what came of that study/theory?)
Well, that's my 2 cents. Hope it helps...
cy·clone (sī'klōn') pronunciation
n.
1. Meteorology.
1. An atmospheric system characterized by the rapid inward circulation of air masses about a low-pressure center, usually accompanied by stormy, often destructive weather. Cyclones circulate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
2. A violent tropical storm, especially one originating in the southwestern Pacific Ocean or Indian Ocean.
2. A violent rotating windstorm.
3. Any of various devices using centrifugal force to separate materials.
[From Greek kuklōn, present participle of kukloun, to rotate, from kuklos, circle.]
cyclonic cy·clon'ic (-klŏn'ĭk) or cy·clon'i·cal adj.
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hur·ri·cane (hûr'ĭ-kān', hŭr'-) pronunciation
n.
1. A severe tropical cyclone originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean, traveling north, northwest, or northeast from its point of origin, and usually involving heavy rains.
2. A wind with a speed greater than 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according to the Beaufort scale.
3. Something resembling a hurricane in force or speed.
[Spanish huracán, from Taino hurákan; akin to Arawak kulakani, thunder.]
n.
1. Meteorology.
1. An atmospheric system characterized by the rapid inward circulation of air masses about a low-pressure center, usually accompanied by stormy, often destructive weather. Cyclones circulate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
2. A violent tropical storm, especially one originating in the southwestern Pacific Ocean or Indian Ocean.
2. A violent rotating windstorm.
3. Any of various devices using centrifugal force to separate materials.
[From Greek kuklōn, present participle of kukloun, to rotate, from kuklos, circle.]
cyclonic cy·clon'ic (-klŏn'ĭk) or cy·clon'i·cal adj.
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hur·ri·cane (hûr'ĭ-kān', hŭr'-) pronunciation
n.
1. A severe tropical cyclone originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean, traveling north, northwest, or northeast from its point of origin, and usually involving heavy rains.
2. A wind with a speed greater than 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according to the Beaufort scale.
3. Something resembling a hurricane in force or speed.
[Spanish huracán, from Taino hurákan; akin to Arawak kulakani, thunder.]
T
the_clockwork
Guest
jack_schitt said:
lol thanks for the spanish pronunciation!
the_clockwork said:
Thats for Pintoca.
T
the_clockwork
Guest
ya basically.. maybe it's like a cultural thing like pop and soda.. you can donate to me 150,000 karma for my answer.. plus I need crowns so people respect me!
