Severe Weather in Costa Rica

Tornadoes are extremely rare in Costa Rica and even those that do form are not very powerful. In order for a tornado to form it must follow a few steps. The first object that forms is a rotating body of air at the ground which occurs due to wind sheer, meaning that wind speeds increase as you increase in altitude. Secondly, horizontal rotating air is lifted off the ground by the updraft of a thunderstorm. Once the horizontal rotating air mass is nearly lifted vertically it is considered a mesocyclone. Lastly, the mesocyclone is fully developed in the updraft of a thunderstorm which completes the process of forming a tornado. Tornadoes, in the US, tend to move from Southwest to Northeast due to the upper level jet stream caused by the fronts of Canada and the US colliding. There have only been 3 recorded tornadoes in the past 10 years in Costa Rica, all category EF-0 meaning they ranged from 65-85 mph. They all left little damage, harmed no one, and quickly dissipated. Compared to Costa Rica, the US sees an average of 1253 tornadoes per year.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/extreme-events/us-tornado-climatology
Although it is hard to see above, Costa Rica lies directly above South America on the left side of the mad and does not experience tornadoes like other countries in the world do (Those with the shaded areas experience more). Over the past 30 years, the number of tornadoes has increased quite dramatically. This could be due to global warming and the increase of areas with warm air which are breeding grounds for tornadoes.

Hurricanes on the other hand are a different kind of natural disaster that can be quite terrifying depending on their strength and where they hit. Tornadoes are formed in places with warm ocean temperatures (upwards of 80 degrees Fahrenheit), deep warm ocean layer (at least 200 meters in depth), and the coriolis of the earth is needed to initiate the spinning. All three of these have to be present, as well as the country lying between 5 degrees N or S and 20 degrees N or S. Costa Rica fits all of these criteria, except that the ocean isn't quite deep enough as it sits just under 200 meters in depth. Hurricanes have different names depending on where they are in the world. They are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and East Pacific Oceans, Cyclones in the Indian Ocean near Australia, and Typhoons off the coast of China and Indonesia.  Here is a map to help better visualize:
http://fall2013elsalvador.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html
As you can see from the map, hurricanes travel from Southeast to Northwest in the US, primarily up the East coast. About 2 hurricanes hit the US each year while Costa Rica doesn't experience any.

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/extreme-events/us-tornado-climatology
http://www.weatherexplained.com/Vol-1/Hurricanes.html