Hurricanes and tornadoes both spin. The clouds and winds of a hurricane spin in a circle. They spin faster and faster as the storm grows. North of the Equator a hurricane spins counterclockwise. South of it, it spins clockwise. A tornado comes from a thunderstorm. It is a column of air that spins very fast. It reaches from the cloud down to the ground.

The funnel you see is made of tiny water droplets. It hangs down from the bottom of the storm. A funnel cloud does not touch the ground. If it does touch the ground, it is a tornado. A tornado is small. It can be only a hundred yards across, or a few hundred yards. Most tornadoes last a few minutes on the ground. The average is about five minutes. Tornado Alley is a nickname for part of the central United States. Tornadoes are more common there. It is not a clearly marked place.

A hurricane is a kind of storm called a tropical cyclone. It forms over tropical or subtropical waters. It needs very warm ocean water to form. The water must be at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). A hurricane has a calm, clear center called the eye. The eye is surrounded by a ring of thunderstorms. That ring is called the eyewall. The winds are strongest in the eyewall.

A storm is called a hurricane when its winds reach 74 miles per hour. The Saffir-Simpson scale rates hurricanes from 1 to 5. It uses only the highest steady wind speed. The Enhanced Fujita Scale rates a tornado by the damage it causes. Its wind speeds are estimates based on that damage.

The same kind of storm as a hurricane has other names. In the western North Pacific they are called typhoons. In the South Pacific and Indian Ocean they are called cyclones. Atlantic storm names come from six lists. The lists are used in order. They start over every six years. A committee of the World Meteorological Organization keeps them. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 each year.

Forecasters watch storms from above and from inside. Satellites circle the Earth. They watch tropical cyclones from the time they start until they fade. As of November 2026, NOAA Hurricane Hunter crews fly airplanes into storms, even through the eyewall. The planes drop small probes. The probes send back pressure, humidity, temperature and wind readings. Forecasters also use Doppler radar to see rotation inside a storm.

A tornado watch means tornadoes are possible in and near an area. A tornado warning means a tornado has been seen or shown by radar. When there is a warning, a family goes to a basement or an inside room with no windows. Big open rooms such as gyms are not the best places. When a hurricane is coming, listen to the grown-ups and officials in charge. A family may not be told to leave. Then a safe place is a small inside room, closet or hallway on the lowest level.

Words to know

• funnel: spinning cone
• eyewall: storm ring
• typhoons: Pacific hurricanes
• probes: small tools
• radar: storm-seeing tool