Two cyclones are forming off of Australia, currently. One off of the Northern Territory and one off the coast of Queensland.

What is the difference between a cyclone and a hurricane? Which way does each rotate? How are they formed? Has your school's community ever been affected byt a cyclone or hurricane?

Alot of extreme weather happening in both the US and Australia...tell us your local story and how this affecting your local water cycle!

Hurricanes and cyclones are the same things just in different locations in the world. they all rotate in the same direction: counterclockwise

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/cyclone.html

http://www.livescience.com/32180-how-do-cyclones-hurricanes-and-typhoons-differ.html

Lyneham High, you are correct that cyclones and hurricanes are the same thing. In the North Atlantic these rotating storms are called Hurricanes and in the South Pacific they are called Cyclones. However, the next part you only got half right. Cyclones do indeed rotate in a clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere, but hurricanes rotate counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. Why is that?

The reasons cyclones and hurricanes move in different directions is because of a force, known as the coriolis force, which pulls winds in different directions, depending on what side of the hemisphere you are on. When a low forms, winds are deflected either left or right, to give the weather sytem either a clockwise/anti clockwise rotation.

The image shows where the low is located and the winds being deflected to give it a rotation, dependent on the location of the cyclone/hurricane, as well as the direction of the Earths rotation.

Bibliography

Aoml.noaa.gov, (2015). TCFAQ D3) Why do tropical cyclones' winds rotate counter-clockwise. [online] Available at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D3.html [Accessed 25 Feb. 2015].

Happy News - Why hurricanes spin counterclockwise. [online] Available at: http://www.happynews.com/news/432008/why-hurricanes-spin-counterclockwise.htm [Accessed 25 Feb. 2015].

Kormilda College you are correct! Good 'ol Coriolis force causes the different rotation directions in the Northern vs Southern Hemisphere!

Now what about Typhoons? Where do they fit in??