What is the difference between a tornado and a hurricane?

Tornadoes and hurricanes are often confused. Think of The Wizard of Oz, and it should conjure up visions of one of these weather phenomena. Do you know which one? (check the bottom of the page to see if you’re right!).

Tornadoes

Tornadoes occur in most parts of the world. However, they are most frequent over the continental plains of the USA.

Tornadoes are typically identified as a funnel of spiralling air descending from the base of clouds to the earth. The tornado is usually narrow, about 1/2 km wide and rarely moves more than 20 km.

Like hurricanes, the precise mechanism of how the funnel forms are not understood.

Hurricane

Tropical Storms start within 8º and 15º north and south of the equator, where surface sea temperatures reach 27ºC. The air above the warm sea is heated and rises. This causes low pressure.

The weather system generates heat which powers the storm, causing wind speeds to increase. This causes the Tropical Storm to sustain itself. Tropical storms rely on plenty of warm, moist air from the sea – this is why they die out over the land.
The central part of the tropical storm is known as the eye. The eye is usually between 30-50km across. It is an area of calm, with light winds and no rain. It contains descending air. Large cumulonimbus clouds surround the eye. These are caused by moist air condensing as it rises. Wind speeds average 160km per hour around the eye. You can read more about tropical storms here.

As for the Wizard of Oz, that’ll be a tornado!