Tropical cyclone is the catch-all term for the powerful, spinning storms that feed off warm oceans and the strength of which is determined by wind speeds. The strongest are known as hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Western Pacific and simply tropical cyclones in the South Pacific.

Three tropical cyclones are spinning in the South Pacific, an occurrence that scientists say is unusual. Trees were knocked down in Fiji from Tropical Cyclone Rae and the Australian state of Queensland is bracing for flooding rainfall from Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

An unusual situation occurred in the Southern Hemisphere Tuesday afternoon, when 5 tropical storms, called cyclones in that part of the world, spun in the southern Indian and Pacific oceans at the same time.