What is the difference between a tornado and a hurricane? And what about typhoon? First, let’s get it straight: all these weather phenomena have to do with strong winds. Not my-umbrella-got-torn-from-my-hands strong, mind you, but rather my-house-got-blown-away-to-the-Land-of-Oz kind of thing. Yet before we get to the actual difference between hurricanes and typhoons, we must understand that they’re one and the same thing called a tropical cyclone.

If you live in moderate or colder climates, there’s nothing for you to worry about, even if your house is right by the seaside, because you’ll only hear about cyclones from the news. After all, they’re called tropical for a reason: they only form in tropical or subtropical areas, because they need warm water to get things going.

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