student asking question

What's the difference between "storm" and "typhoon"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Great question. A "typhoon" is actually just a type of "storm". The phrases "hurricanes" and "typhoons" are really the same kind of thing except that hurricanes occur to the east of the American continent and typhoons occur to the east of Asia. All these types of weather are a result of intense low-pressure systems. This low-pressure system is what we refer to as a "storm". Usually, the phrase "typhoon" is used to describe a particularly big storm that causes a lot of damage or even death. Ex: There is a storm coming in from the coast. Looks like it will be a typhoon. Ex: They thought there was going to be a typhoon but it was just a mild thunderstorm.

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