What is the difference between a tornado and a typhoon?

Tornadoes and typhoons are both natural disasters, and their causes, scales and effects are significantly different.

Tornado is a disastrous weather phenomenon, which is usually related to unstable atmospheric conditions and strong convective activities. The formation of tornadoes usually requires the following conditions: the intersection of cold and warm air, atmospheric instability, high humidity and appropriate vertical wind shear in the lower layer. Tornadoes usually appear at the bottom or in front of strong thunderstorm clouds, with short duration and extremely high wind speed, which can cause strong weather phenomena such as strong winds, heavy rains and lightning. Tornadoes are generally between tens and hundreds of meters in diameter, and the wind speed can reach about 300 kilometers per hour or even higher.

Typhoon is a cyclonic circulation in the tropical ocean, and its formation needs the following conditions: wide warm ocean surface, high temperature and high humidity in the lower atmosphere, initial disturbance, suitable wind shear and sufficient latitude. Typhoons usually appear in summer and autumn, bringing huge energy and moisture from tropical oceans, causing disasters such as strong winds, heavy rains and storm surges. The diameter of a typhoon is usually between several hundred kilometers and 1,000 kilometers, while the wind speed is generally between 1 18 kilometers per hour and 145 kilometers, and the strongest can reach more than 240 kilometers per hour.

In a word, tornadoes and typhoons are extremely destructive natural disasters, but there are significant differences in their causes, scale and influence.