A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone. Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water, and they are known for their compact, circular shape, with winds swirling around a central region of low atmospheric pressure. The winds are driven by this low-pressure core and by the rotation of the Earth, which deflects the path of the wind through a phenomenon known as the Coriolis force. Tropical cyclones rotate in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in a clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere.
Tropical cyclones can be very destructive and are associated with a variety of hazards, including damaging or destructive winds, torrential rain, high waves, storm surges, flooding, landslides, and tornadoes. The greatest damage to life and property is not from the wind, but from secondary events such as storm surges, flooding, landslides, and tornadoes. Tropical cyclones are referred to by different names depending on where they originate in the world. Hurricanes occur in the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern north Pacific Ocean, typhoons occur in the western Pacific Ocean, and tropical cyclones occur in the south Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.
