On 1 May 2010 03:05, A. PIEKARSKI
Yes. That would actually correspond to their somewhat different terminological nature:
« The terms hurricane and typhoon are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TyphoonIf "typhoon" is regional while "tornado" is not evidently so, it would make sense to have a fu'ivla for the former to reflect some sense of its regionality or even cultural specificity (in this case, the perceived fact that Chinese "táifēng" is most likely the source of many different language words for "typhoon".)
But then it might not be appropriate for {taifnu} to generically mean "tropical cyclone", let alone "cyclone" (which occurs on Mars and Neptune as well). The international naming conventions guided by WMO (World Meteorological Organization) are:
Hurricane (the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E)
Typhoon (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)
Severe tropical cyclone (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90E)
Severe cyclonic storm (the North Indian Ocean)
Tropical cyclone (the Southwest Indian Ocean)
related to these divisions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Specialized_Meteorological_Centre#Major_basins
Furthermore:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone_scales