What are hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones?

Hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical cyclones are big storms that happen over warm oceans, like when you blow on hot soup and it starts to swirl around.

Imagine you're in a bathtub full of water, and you start spinning around. The water gets all wobbly and starts moving in circles. That’s kind of what happens with these big storms. They start as warm, wet breezes over the ocean, and then they grow bigger and stronger, like when your little brother joins in the spin and makes the bathwater go even wilder.

Hurricanes happen near North America, typhoons near Asia, and tropical cyclones are just another name for them all. They’re all the same kind of storm, they just get different names depending on where you are. It’s like how your friend might call you “Elipedia,” but your teacher calls you by your full name.

These storms can be really strong, sometimes even strong enough to knock down trees or make waves as high as a house! But once they move over land, they usually get tired and start to fade away.