HURRICANE? CYCLONE? TYPHOON? They’re all the same, officially tropical cyclones. Hurricane is used in the Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, central and northeast Pacific. They are typhoons in the northwest Pacific. In the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, they are called cyclones. Tropical cyclone is used in the southwest Indian Ocean; in the southwestern Pacific and southeastern Indian Ocean, they are severe tropical cyclones.

STRENGTH: A storm gets a name and is considered a tropical storm at 39 mph. It becomes a hurricane, typhoon, tropical cyclone, or cyclone at 74 mph. There are five strength categories, depending on wind speed. The highest category is 5 and that’s above 155 mph. Australia has a different system.

ROTATION: If they are north of the equator they rotate clockwise. If they are south, they rotate counterclockwise.

SEASON: The Atlantic and central Pacific hurricane seasons are June 1 through Nov. 30. Eastern Pacific: May 15 to Nov. 30; northwestern Pacific season is almost all year, with the most from May to November. The cyclone season in the south Pacific and Australia runs from November to April. The Bay of Bengal has two seasons: April to June and September to November.

– The Associated Press