Winds of a cyclone spiral in the counterclockwise direction in the northern hemisphere while it spirals clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Cyclones are not formed generally at the equator.

Cyclones are defined as strong winds that rotate around a central eye.

Cyclone occurring in Caribbean islands, Eastern Pacific and Atlantic Ocean are called hurricanes. Typhoons are the more mature form of cyclone developing between 180° and 100°E of North Pacific Ocean.

For a cyclone to be formed, the sea temperature must be at least 26.5 degree celsius.

The size of the eye of a cyclone varies between 10-100 km.

Clouds that are formed outside a cyclone are called ‘cloud chains’. They make cyclones stronger.

Hurricane Sandy sunk the ship that was used in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.

A dust devil is a very strong whirlwind varying from half a metre to 10 meters in width and a few meters to 1000 meters in height. It is normally harmless.

Eclipse was a sailing ship sailing from New Castle to San Francisco. It sank after being overtaken by a hurricane and was then hit by a meteor in 1908.

When the Mongol invaded Japan for the second time, they were outnumbered heavily owing to a hurricane that struck the country. Thus, Japan was saved and they called the hurricane as ‘kamikaze’ meaning divine wind.