【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】 .