clear-air turbulence

noun

: sudden severe turbulence occurring in cloudless regions that causes violent jarring or buffeting of aircraft

Examples of clear-air turbulence in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Instances of moderate or more violent clear-air turbulence have increased by 37% over the north Atlantic Ocean over the last 40 years, according to a 2023 study analyzing data from 1979 to 2020. Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2024 There have been several incidents of severe turbulence disrupting flights recently, including last year when actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves experienced severe clear-air turbulence on a Lufthansa flight from Austin, Texas, to Frankfurt, Germany. Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 2 Dec. 2024 At high altitudes, planes can run into clear-air turbulence, which is dangerously invisible to the eye and to radars, often striking with no warning. Koh Ewe, TIME, 2 July 2024 The two primary kinds of turbulence are clear-air turbulence and convective turbulence, the turbulence that occurs in, say, thunderstorms or in big clouds, big lines of clouds. Abc News, ABC News, 22 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for clear-air turbulence 

Word History

First Known Use

1955, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of clear-air turbulence was in 1955

Dictionary Entries Near clear-air turbulence

Cite this Entry

“Clear-air turbulence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clear-air%20turbulence. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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