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Wednesday, April 20, 2022

04-19-2022-2000 - inversion

In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the air temperature lapse rate, in which case it is called a temperature inversion. Normally, air temperature decreases with an increase in altitude, but during an inversion warmer air is held above cooler air.[2]

An inversion traps air pollution, such as smog, close to the ground. An inversion can also suppress convection by acting as a "cap". If this cap is broken for any of several reasons, convection of any moisture present can then erupt into violent thunderstorms. Temperature inversion can notoriously result in freezing rain in cold climates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(meteorology)


 Freezing rain occurs when there is a layer of very warm air placed above a layer of below-freezing or subfreezing air near the surface. This means we have a thermal inversion with the temperature becoming warmer the higher we go. The falling snowflakes towards the ground begin melting in this layer as they continue to fall through the warm air.

https://www.severe-weather.eu/global-weather/polar-vortex-2022-extreme-temperature-winter-storm-nancy-oaklee-united-states-mk/

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