The Windy Wonders' question regarding cyclones vs. tornadoes 
vs. hurricanes from 2/14/2000 is answered below. Hope this 
helps!  -C. Duvall Rutgers Univ. Meteorologist 2/15/2000

A. Wind and Hurricanes:  Please see the message I posted 
called " **Wind and Hurricanes Explained** " from 2/14/2000

B. Cyclones:  

A cyclone is any area where the winds are turning 
counter-clockwise, or in a circle to the left.  This 
includes hurricanes, tornadoes, some thunderstorms, and 
other areas of Low pressure.  
Cyclones tend to produce stormy weather of some kind.  
People often use the word "cyclone" to describe one of the 
examples above, which is why you sometimes hear someone 
call a tornado a "cyclone".

C. Tornadoes:

Tornadoes are believed to be miniature cyclones, but 
scientists are still trying to gather evidence to figure 
them out.  

Dr. Howie Bluestein, a storm-chasing professor from the 
University of Oklahoma, has collected special radar images 
of tornadoes that show an eye inside of them, just like 
a hurricane!  

On the outside, some tornadoes look like thin ropes of 
spaghetti, others look like the one they drew for the 
end of the movie Twister.  Some are invisible until they 
begin swirling up stuff from the ground.

Tornadoes can produce the fastest, natural winds on Earth.  
Right before I left Oklahoma to come back to New Jersey, 
I saw my first tornado ever.  

It was the Moore, OK F5 tornado with the fastest recorded 
winds ever: 318 miles per hour !  319 mph would be an F6, 
which has not officially been recorded yet.  That was the 
first of about six or so that I happened to see the 
afternoon of May 3, 1999.  One of the other Weather Specialists 
in our group- Andrew Wood- is also from the University of 
Oklahoma.  I am pretty sure he saw the Moore, OK tornado, too.

Students and scientists chase storms to study them, so we can 
figure out why they are created.  The more we know, the better 
we will be at guessing when and where they will happen, next.  
That way, people will have more time to get out of the way.  
The same applies to the scientists who fly planes through 
hurricanes.

A lot of people try to chase storms, especially after seeing 
Twister, but it is EXTREMELY dangerous!  Even the scientists 
are very careful, and they are usually guided by special 
instruments and their own experiences with storms.  

By the way, you cannot survive an F5 tornado by belting yourself 
to a pipe like in Twister.  The wind is bad, but it is the stuff 
flying around in the wind that does most of the actual damage.  
It was a cool movie, not real life.

Just like the example I gave in my previous message, trees and 
hills help to slow down windy weather, which is one reason why 
tornadoes are more rare in hilly areas. Trees won't slow down a 
tornado very much- if that were true, people would turn Oklahoma 
into a forest!

I saw whole neighborhoods in Moore where nothing higher than 3 
feet existed after the tornado came through- this is why you have 
to get to the lowest floor, underground, or out of the way 
entirely when a tornado is coming.

Finally, tornadoes and hurricanes are rare.  They are not something 
you have to look out for every day.  But when they do decide to 
visit, pay attention and stay safe.  

This was another good question... keep 'em coming!
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