Hurricanes and tropical storms are both types of tropical cyclones. The difference is in the intensity. A hurricane is the most intense type of tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 74 mph or higher. Sometimes, damage caused by hurricanes is not covered by traditional homeowners’ insurance policies.

The only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is the location where the storm occurs. The weakest tropical cyclones are called tropical depressions. If a depression intensifies such that its maximum sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour , the tropical cyclone becomes a tropical storm.

Tropical depressions form when a low-pressure area is accompanied by thunderstorms that produce maximum winds below 39 mph. As for tropical storms, those are more severe. Depressions become storms when winds reach between 39 and 73 mph.

As experienced storm damage contractors, we thought we’d explain some of the most common storm types that we experience in the US.

1. Derecho Storms.
2. Flooding.
3. Hail Storms.
4. Snow Storms.
5. Hurricanes.
6. Ice Storms.
7. Lightning.
8. Thunderstorms.

Tornadoes Versus Hurricanes Tornadoes form over land, while hurricanes form over water.

While both types of storms are capable of producing destructive winds, tornadoes can become stronger than hurricanes. The most intense winds in a tornado can exceed 300 miles per hour, while the strongest known Atlantic hurricane contained winds of 190 miles per hour.

Hurricanes and tropical storms, collectively known as tropical cyclones, provide all the necessary ingredients to form tornadoes. First, most hurricanes carry with them individual supercells, which are rotating, well-organized thunderstorms. Most hurricanes that make landfall create tornadoes, McNoldy said.

There is no “eye” to a tornado like there is in a hurricane. This is a fiction largely caused by the movie Twister. Tornadoes are complex and can have multiple small structures called “sub vortices” rotating inside the larger parent circulation.

If it’s in a populated area, it becomes more of a thundering sound. And then actually even the smell of tornadoes—if you’re in the right place, you get a strong odor of fresh-cut grass, or occasionally, if it’s destroyed a house, natural gas.

The most “extreme” tornado in recorded history was the Tri-State Tornado, which spread through parts of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on March 18, 1925. It is considered an F5 on the Fujita Scale, even though tornadoes were not ranked on any scale at the time.

If the tornado passes directly over you, you will likely be picked up, then dropped from a height. A few people are lucky enough to survive, but most die. If the tornado simply passes near you, you are likely to be hit by flying debris, or have a tree or building collapsed onto you.

Swirling red dirt can be seen as the tornado passes and begins to pick up debris. An area of what looks to be a glowing white light and clear sky can be seen at the top of the twister.

Although the official boundaries of Tornado Alley are not clearly defined, the main alley extends from northern Texas, through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. States such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, North Dakota and Ohio are sometimes included in Tornado Alley.

Bottom ten states with the least tornadoes

• Alaska – 0.
• Hawaii – 0.
• Rhode Island – 0.
• Delaware – 1.
• Idaho – 1.
• Massachusetts – 1.
• New Hampshire – 1.
• Vermont – 1.

An average of 1,224 tornadoes touch down per year across the United States. The top 10 states for tornadoes as of the most recent (1991-2015) average are as follows, in order from high to low: Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Nebraska, Illinois, Colorado, Iowa, Alabama, Missouri, and Mississippi.

Most tornadoes are found in the Great Plains of the central United States – an ideal environment for the formation of severe thunderstorms. In this area, known as Tornado Alley, storms are caused when dry cold air moving south from Canada meets warm moist air traveling north from the Gulf of Mexico.

When most people think of tornado activity in the U.S., the Tornado Alley sweeping through the Great Plains comes to mind. However, there is a growing consensus that Tornado Alley is shifting to the East and South… which already have their own tornado alleys – and one of them is in North Carolina!

Most brick houses could withstand a tornado as strong as EF2 and remain mostly intact. If a tornado rips off the roof then brick walls can collapse. If you want to build a safe house then build the walls and floor and roof out of concrete and have steel shutters than will cover all openings.

Go to the basement or an inside room without windows on the lowest floor (bathroom, closet, center hallway). If possible, avoid sheltering in a room with windows. For added protection get under something sturdy (a heavy table or workbench).

Taking cover under sturdy furniture, in a bathtub or closet or under a mattress will be meaningless in a mobile home if the home itself is destroyed, blown over, or rolled over by tornado or severe thunderstorm winds. Get out of mobile homes and find a more substantial shelter as quickly as possible.

Although the boundaries of Tornado Alley are debatable (depending on which criteria you use—frequency, intensity, or events per unit area), the region from central Texas, northward to northern Iowa, and from central Kansas and Nebraska east to western Ohio is often collectively known as Tornado Alley.

◊ Debris. All kinds of material can get pitched into a ditch with lethal force during a tornado. This is no idle concern; ditches regularly fill with tornado debris. There you are hiding in your nice, flooding ditch, and down comes a power line smack into the water.