Though cyclones and tornadoes have the same shape, they both have little in common. A cyclone is defined as an atmospheric system by rapid inward circulation of air in a low-pressure center. A tornado is a rotating column of air that could be from a few yards to more than a mile in width. Also, it is an extension of a cumulonimbus cloud.
The wind speed of tornadoes range from 40 mph to 110 mph, but there have been extreme speeds of 300 mph. There are different types of tornadoes: multiple vortex, waterspout, gustnado, dare devil, fire whirls, and steam devils. Cyclone speeds are between 32 to 200 kmph and can be six main tyoes: polar, polar low, extratropical, subtropical, tropical and mesocyclones.
Cyclones are found in Southern Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean while tornadoes have been found everywhere but Antarctica. Both are measured differently, the scale for cyclones are Beaufort Scale and Saffir-Simpson but for tornadoes, the strength ratings are called Fujita (F), Enhanced Fujita (EF) and TORRO (T) Scale. There are ten to 14 cyclones per year and the United States records 1200 tornadoes per year. The Netherlands record the highest number of tornadoes per compared to other countries. Tornadoes occur in the spring and fall season and less common in the winter.
Tornadoes have diameters on the scale of hundreds of meters and produced from a convective storm, like a thunderstorm. Cyclones have a diameter of hundreds of kilometers and are made up of many convective storms. Tornadoes need a change of wind speed and/or direction with height. Cyclones need low velocities to be able to form and continue to grow. Tornadoes need a high temperature to form and they are found only over land. Cyclones are formed in near zero horizontal temperatures and over the ocean; they begin to die out with a loss of moisture. The time frame from a tornado is a few minutes, while a cyclone’s life is measured in hours and days.
For destruction, one is not more destructive than the other. The tornado can tear down buildings and kill people and be in a very centralized location to taking out whatever is in its path. The tornado has an intense damage while a cyclone continues beating down on its area. Cyclones can also form a tornado if the cyclone hits land because land destroys a cyclone’s formation.
