Typhoon vs Hurricane: Wild Weather Clash

In October 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippines with wind speeds topping 195 miles per hour, but a storm just like it in Florida would be called something else. In the Northwest Pacific, it's a typhoon-massive, spinning storms with rain and fierce winds forming over warm ocean water. The Atlantic and Northeast Pacific get the same monster storms, but there they're called hurricanes. Both are tropical cyclones, both can flood cities, snap trees and flip cars, but the name depends on where the storm forms. And here’s the twist-if one of these storms crosses the International Date Line, its name changes from hurricane to typhoon, or the other way round. So, typhoon equals western Pacific; hurricane equals Atlantic and eastern Pacific. To remember: Typhoon starts with T for 'top' of the world, over Asia; hurricane starts with H for 'home' in the Americas. Haiyan in 2013 was a Pacific titan-a typhoon by name, but a hurricane in strength.