whirlwind

whirlwind, cyclone, typhoon, hurricane, tornado, waterspout, twister share the basic notion of a rotary motion of the wind.

Whirlwind is applied to a small windstorm which begins with an inward and upward spiral motion of the lower air and is followed by an outward and upward spiral motion until, usually, there is a progressive motion at all levels.

Cyclone, in technical use, is applicable to a system of winds that rotate, counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, about a center of low atmospheric pressure; such a system of winds originating in the tropics (a tropical cyclone) may rotate at the rate of 75 miles per hour or more, sometimes exceeding 200 miles per hour.

Typhoon is used of a severe tropical cyclone in the region of the western Pacific ocean.

A tropical cyclone in the tropical north Atlantic and tropical western Pacific, with winds rarely exceeding 150 miles an hour, occasionally moving into temperate latitudes, is called a hurricane. In popular use, especially in the midwestern U.S., cyclone may take the place of tornado, the usual technical term, for an extremely violent whirling wind which is accompanied by a funnel-shaped cloud and which moves with great speed in a narrow path over a stretch of territory, often causing great destruction.

A waterspout is a tornado that occurs over water.

Twister is a familiar term often applied to a whirlwind, tornado, or waterspout.