After the destruction left behind by typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban (Philippine), I was forced to look up the distinctions between the various adverse weather conditions: *Cyclone - An area of closed circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiralling winds that rotate anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. *Typhoon - A matured tropical cyclone that develops in the Western part of the North Pacific ocean between 180* and 100*E. *Tornado - A violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and clouds. There are sometimes referred to as twisters or cyclones. *Hurricane - A type of tropical cyclone or severe tropical storm that forms in the Southern Atlantic ocean. Often accompanied by thunderstorms. *Haboob - An Arabic word for a type of intense dust storm carried on an atmospheric gravity current. Haboobs occur regularly in arid regions throughout the world eg Sahara desert or Sudan where the name originated.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 06:07:31 +0000
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