The only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is the location where the storm occurs.

飓风和台风之间的唯一区别就是风暴发生的位置不同。

 

A close-up satellite image of Hurricane Isabel taken on Sept. 15, 2003. The National Ocean Service helps coastal communities prepare for and recover from major coastal storms such as hurricanes.

2003年9月15日，飓风伊莎贝尔拍摄的特写卫星图像。美国国家海洋局帮助沿海地区为飓风等主要沿海风暴做准备和恢复。

 

Hurricanes and typhoons are the same weather phenomenon: tropical cyclones. A tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation.

飓风和台风是同一种天气现象：热带气旋。热带气旋是气象学家用来描述一个有规律旋转着的云团和雷暴气象系统的通用术语。它们形成于热带或亚热带水域，且具有封闭的低水平环流。

 

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. Once a tropical cyclone reaches maximum sustained winds of 74 miles per hour or higher, it is then classified as a hurricane, typhoon, or tropical cyclone, depending upon where the storm originates in the world.

最弱的热带气旋被称为热带低气压。如果低气压区增强，使其最大持续风速达到每小时39英里（约为63公里），则热带气旋将成为热带风暴。一旦热带气旋达到每小时74英里（约119公里）或更高的最大持续风速，它就会被归类为飓风、台风或热带气旋，名称具体取决于风暴形成于世界上哪块地区。

In the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific, the term hurricane is used. The same type of disturbance in the Northwest Pacific is called a typhoon. Meanwhile, in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the generic term tropical cyclone is used, regardless of the strength of the wind associated with the weather system.

在北大西洋、北太平洋中部和北太平洋东部，就使用“飓风”一词。而发源于西北太平洋的同类气象扰动则被称为“台风“。同时，如果是在南太平洋和印度洋，则使用通用术语“热带气旋”，无论与天气系统相关的风的强度如何。

 

The ingredients for tropical cyclones include a pre-existing weather disturbance, warm tropical oceans, moisture, and relatively light winds. If the right conditions persist long enough, they can combine to produce the violent winds, incredible waves, torrential rains, and floods we associate with this phenomenon.

热带气旋的成分包括预先存在的气象干扰、温暖的热带海洋、水汽和相对较弱的风。如果这样合适的条件持续足够长的时间，它们就会结合起来产生狂风巨浪、暴雨以及与这类现象相关的洪水。

At times, when a weather system does not meet all of these conditions, but is forecast to bring tropical storm or hurricane force winds to land in the next day or two, it is called a potential tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin and the central and eastern North Pacific basins.

有时候，虽然天气系统暂时不能满足所有这些条件，但预计在未来一两天内将形成热带风暴或飓风登陆内陆，这种气象就被称为“潜在热带气旋”，一般出现在大西洋盆地和中部以及北太平洋东部盆地。

 

In the Atlantic, hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30. Ninety-seven percent of tropical cyclone activity occurs during this time period. However, there is nothing magical about these dates. Hurricanes can and do occur outside of this six month period.

在大西洋，飓风季节从6月1日正式开始，一直延续到到11月30日。有97％的热带气旋活动都发生在这段时间内。然而，这些日期并没什么特殊的。在这六个月之外，飓风可以而且的确会发生。

翻译：chenkeer