the largest typhoon in history slammed
into southern Asia in the Philippines
today it's so big they're calling it a
super typhoon
hey everyone trace here for dnews
answering a long-held question and a lot
of people's minds what's the difference
between a hurricane and a typhoon we
hear both words a lot they're both
storms that get names the super typhoon
hitting Asia right now is named Heian or
Yolanda by the way the main difference
between a hurricane and a typhoon
believe it or not is simply where the
storm occurs according to NOAA
hurricanes form in the northern Atlantic
north eastern Pacific and South Pacific
typhoons form in the northwestern
Pacific specifically there are also
cyclones I forgot all about them which
form in the southwest Pacific Ocean and
the Indian Ocean science likes naming
things and they're very thorough
basically there are three names for the
same big spinny storms and one cool fact
the word hurricane comes from the name
of one of the Mayan gods Huracan who
helped create the world no big deal
other than location is there anything
unique about each type of storm not
really all three storms share humble
beginnings as tropical storms each begin
over warm oceans where there are high
levels of air moisture and wind if the
right conditions persist then these
spinning storms will grow and when they
reach sustained internal wind speeds of
74 miles an hour they can bring
torrential rain flooding and all the
other hallmarks of a big storm like that
the location of the typhoon cyclone or
hurricane determines the direction it
spins just being a typhoon doesn't mean
it will spin in a specific direction
same with a hurricane storms can spin
either way all storms forming in the
northern hemisphere spin
counterclockwise while those forming in
the southern hemisphere spin clockwise
easy-peasy so what about this super
storm thing we just had one in the US
last year with hurricane sandy that
became superstorm sandy and now Asia has
a super - are those the same thing not
at all I spoke with Dennis felt Kenneth
the National Hurricane Center and in the
US the super storm moniker is completely
made up by the media however the super
typhoon that's a real science thing it's
a ranking that's done on that side of
the world and it means a sustained
surface wind of at least 150 miles an
hour high in is sustaining at 195 with
gusts up to 235
holy crap in the Atlantic where
hurricanes lived they typically appear
from June to November and there are
maybe a dozen a year but the Pacific
typhoon that can happen anywhere from
May to December and there may be as many
as 30 in a year we track storms around
the world over at Discovery News comm so
check out the storm tracker for more
information and make sure you visit a
disaster relief charity because your
help is going to be needed soon thanks a
lot for watching dnews today