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Cool, dry air is very stable and resists vertical movement, which leads to good and generally clear weather. The greatest instability occurs when the air is moist and warm, as it is in the tropical regions in the summer. Typically, thunderstorms appear on a daily basis in these regions due to the instability of the surrounding air.
Atmospheric instability is a condition where the Earth's atmosphere is considered to be unstable and as a result local weather is highly variable through distance and time. [ clarification needed ] [ 1 ] Atmospheric instability encourages vertical motion, which is directly correlated to different types of weather systems and their severity.
Atmospheric thermodynamics is the study of heat-to-work transformations (and their reverse) that take place in the Earth's atmosphere and manifest as weather or climate. . Atmospheric thermodynamics use the laws of classical thermodynamics, to describe and explain such phenomena as the properties of moist air, the formation of clouds, atmospheric convection, boundary layer meteorology, and ...
Atmospheric convection is the result of a parcel-environment instability (temperature difference layer) in the atmosphere. [ jargon ] Different lapse rates within dry and moist air masses lead to instability.
A good example of convective instability can be found in our own atmosphere. If dry mid-level air is drawn over very warm, moist air in the lower troposphere, a hydrolapse (an area of rapidly decreasing dew point temperatures with height) results in the region where the moist boundary layer and mid-level air meet. As daytime heating increases ...
Diagram showing the daily changes to the capping inversion on top of Earth's planetary boundary layer. A capping inversion is an elevated inversion layer that caps a convective planetary boundary layer. The boundary layer is the part of the atmosphere which is closest to the ground.
The weather in Arizona is famously warm, sunny and dependable. Meteorologists may at times have some scorching triple digit temperatures to report, but that's typically as bad as it gets.
With its warm and humid characteristics, this air is susceptive to convective instability and can sustain thunderstorms, especially if lifted by the advancing cold front. A surface weather analysis for the United States on October 21, 2006. Note the warm front in the northwest Gulf of Mexico.