Hurricane is the name given to a tropical cyclone with continued winds of 74 miles per hour or more in the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. Hurricanes are known as typhoons in the western Pacific and cyclones in the Indian Ocean.
A hurricane or tropical cyclone is a warm storm system driven by thunderstorms near its center, feeding on the heat released when moist air rises and the water vapor in it condenses. The world cyclone lets us know that the storm has a rotating area at its core; its circulation is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Hurricanes can produce extremely strong winds, torrential rain, high waves, storm surge and even tornadoes. They form over bodies of warm water, and gradually lose strength over land, meaning coastal regions are mostly affected by hurricanes, while inland regions are relatively safe from receiving the extremely strong winds. Inland areas are also affected, heavy rains can produce major flooding, and storm surges can produce widespread flooding up to 30 km inland.
