How Hurricanes Get Their Names

I've been following the news about Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. And now, there's Typhoon Talim happening in Taiwan as well.

I know Hurricane Katrina wreck havoc in poor New Orleans, and it's really no laughing matter really. But I couldn't help asking frivolous questions, how do hurricanes get their names? And what is the difference between hurricanes, typhoons and tornadoes?

Anyway, this is what I found out.....

How hurricanes get their names
All hurricanes are given names, to help us identify storms and track them as they move across the ocean. As there can be more than one hurricane roaming the earth at any one time, people could get confused if hurricanes don't have names.

The folks who get to decide what names are used for hurricanes are the World Meteorological Organization. They have six lists of names which they use in rotation; and so the same name will resurface after 6 years. The only time a new name is added is if a hurricane is very deadly or costly. Then the name is retired and a new name is chosen. This could be the case for Hurricane Katrina.

Gee , I sure wish I could name a hurricane after myself, even if it's only a teeny weeny hurricane.

Click here to check out whether your name is on the list of hurricane names

The difference between typhoons, hurricanes, tornadoes and cycloons
Well, a hurricane and typhone are really the same thing. However, a hurricane generally occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and a typhoon generally occurs in the Pacific Ocean. Tornados are similar but occur on land and are not as large. "Cyclone" is more or less a generic term that refers to any circular wind storm