Hurricane, typhoon or cyclone?
FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:
Fred Rasmussen wrote last week from the Obit Desk, after a big storm battered, Australia: “Why is it called a Force 5 cyclone? Is there any difference between a cyclone and a hurricane?” Only in where you happen to be when one blows you down. They’re all tropical cyclones.
“Hurricane” is derived from the names of Carib and Mayan storm gods, “huracan, or “hunraken.” We apply it to these storms in the North Atlantic basin and Northeast Pacific. In the northwest Pacific they’re typhoons. Elsewhere, they’re cyclones.
(PHOTO: Japan Meteorological Agency, Cyclone Yasi)
Posted by Frank Roylance at 12:01 AM | Permalink
| Comments (2)
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Notes
Categories: From the Sun's print edition, Sky Notes
Comments
Some call it 'to-mah-to' and some call it 'to-may-to'.
Some call it 'po-tah-to' and some call it 'po-tay-to'. Most spell it without an 'e', but at least one (very famous) person doesn't.
Posted by: Mike | February 7, 2011 2:15 AM
In the Pacific they usually use the Beaufort scale for Cyclones, which would mean winds 20–28 km/h (13–17 mph).
On the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale it would be the top dog, with winds over 155 mph (69 m/s).
Two very different meanings for the same term.
FR: It was a Cat. 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Gusts to 290 km/hr, or 180 mph.
Posted by: Ken Marsh | February 7, 2011 10:31 AM