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Typhoon vs. Hurricane

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welst10

Platinum Member
I just read news that deadliest typhoon hitting China coast since 1997 killed 115 and forced 500,000 to evacuate so far. With the Hurricane going on in Florida, I am wondering what's the difference between typhhon and hurricane?
 
Different parts of the world call these large storms by different names.
 
Interesting fact: the word hurricane derives from the ancient Mayan name for their god of wind and storm - Hurakan.
 
Originally posted by: jjones
Interesting fact: the word hurricane derives from the ancient Mayan name for their god of wind and storm - Hurakan.
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Another interesting fact: Typhoon derives its name from Tai Fuu in Japanese (could also be Chinese too) which means big wind.
 
Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
Originally posted by: welst10
Originally posted by: aphex
Different parts of the world call these large storms by different names.
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so they're the same thing with different names?
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Pretty much, except generally typhoons are stronger than hurricanes because of the warmer Pacific waters.
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Grrrr. That reporter has one fact wrong. Australians do not call Hurricanes "Willy-willys" A Willy willy is what you would term a "Dust devil" I wish these guys would get their facts right. :frown:

BTW we call hurricanes "cyclones" or "tropical cyclones".
 
Location, location, location.

Source
Hurricanes and typhoons are alike in origin, structure, and features. The only difference is the area of the world they occur in. Hurricanes occur in the waters adjacent to North America; in the North Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and southeastern North Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, typhoons occur in waters of the western North Pacific Ocean. Due to the unlimited amount of warm water in the Western Pacific Ocean, typhoons occur more often than hurricanes and are often larger and more intense.
 
Aside from the location issue mentioned, typhoons are MUCH stronger than hurricanes in general. The current "massive storm" near Florida is a strong breeze here. We had a near miss by the latest typhoon (the one that recently hit China, passed to the south of Okinawa), and we had 50 knot winds here which was quite unexceptional.

Last year, Typhoon Sinlaku went through and had winds gusting over 200 mph. What do you think THAT would do to Florida? We didn't lose power or water, and the most that happened in the neighborhood were some leaves and branches blew off a neighbor's tree.
 
It's also worth noting that Typhoons actually have 2 different names based on strength; once they pass Hurricane/Typhoon level winds, they become Super Typhoons.
 
Originally posted by: ViRGE
It's also worth noting that Typhoons actually have 2 different names based on strength; once they pass Hurricane/Typhoon level winds, they become Super Typhoons.
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I could sware that they use up to 10 levels of classification for Typhoons while I was in Hong Kong, while I read hurricane has 5 categories: Hurricane Charley being cat 4. Anyone can verify that for me?
 
Originally posted by: benliong
Originally posted by: ViRGE
It's also worth noting that Typhoons actually have 2 different names based on strength; once they pass Hurricane/Typhoon level winds, they become Super Typhoons.
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I could sware that they use up to 10 levels of classification for Typhoons while I was in Hong Kong, while I read hurricane has 5 categories: Hurricane Charley being cat 4. Anyone can verify that for me?
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Yes Charlie reached category 4 which is 145 mph wind speeds. Or actually maybe it is 140 and Charlie was up to 145. Cat 1 is 75 mph of course.
 
Originally posted by: benliong
I could sware that they use up to 10 levels of classification for Typhoons while I was in Hong Kong, while I read hurricane has 5 categories: Hurricane Charley being cat 4. Anyone can verify that for me?
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Typhoons have 2 Tropical Storm categories, then reach Typhoon status of which there are 5 categories:

Typhoon Category 1
Minimal Typhoon
Sustained Winds: 74-95 mph
Peak Gusts: 95-120 mph

Typhoon Category 2
Moderate Typhoon
Sustained Winds: 96-110 mph
Peak Gusts: 121-139 mph

Typhoon Category 3
Strong Typhoon
Sustained Winds: 111-130 mph
Peak Gusts: 140-165 mph

Typhoon Category 4
Very Strong Typhoon
Sustained Winds: 131-155 mph
Peak Gusts: 166-197 mph

Typhoon Category 5
Devastating Typhoon
Sustained Winds: 156-194 mph
Peak Gusts: 198-246 mph

Source
 
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