How to Use temperature inversion in a Sentence

temperature inversion

noun
  • The Air Force said that a temperature inversion — a layer of cold air trapped under a layer of warm air — had tricked the radar.
    Washington Post, 6 June 2021
  • The warmer layer acts like a lid or cover trapping the cold air at the surface, in what is called a temperature inversion.
    Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2022
  • But, true to its name, a temperature inversion flips this.
    Matt Simon, Wired, 5 May 2021
  • There was also a temperature inversion, where warm air was sitting on top of very shallow cold air.
    Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2021
  • Under these conditions, a temperature inversion forms above the ground, and the volcanic emissions are trapped near the surface and travel down our side of the mountain slope.
    Todd Nelson, Star Tribune, 9 Apr. 2021
  • The gusts break up the temperature inversions that usually trap colder air at the surface, Zingone said.
    Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Jan. 2018
  • When a temperature inversion occurs, the air prevented from rising helps bend the radar beam.
    Fox News, 14 May 2020
  • Ice has kept its grip on the Arctic with the help of an unusual temperature inversion in the underlying waters.
    Paul Voosen, Science | AAAS, 25 Aug. 2020
  • Winter also brings an offshore flow that pushes fog up from the Central Valley, as well as a temperature inversion, with cold air near the ground and high air far above, forming a lid.
    Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Nov. 2021
  • The Pentagon later said the unknown radar blips were false images caused by temperature inversion.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2022
  • There’s a bizarre temperature inversion during the winter, in that the cold air settles in the valley surrounding the Rio Grande, and warmer air occupies the higher-elevation Chisos Basin.
    Graham Averill, Outside Online, 19 Feb. 2020
  • There’s a bizarre temperature inversion here during the winter, in that the cold air settles in the valley surrounding the Rio Grande, and warmer air occupies the higher-elevation Chisos Basin.
    The Editors, Outside Online, 4 Jan. 2021
  • During the cooler months, a weather condition known as a temperature inversion can trap polluted air close to the ground, causing the condition often referred to as the brown cloud.
    Weldon B. Johnson, azcentral, 16 Oct. 2019
  • For example, high pressure aloft can squeeze the temperature inversion closer to the ground — below 1,000 feet above sea level — creating dense fog.
    Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2022
  • The risk of a temperature inversion, which would trap smoke from the burns under a layer of cooler air and thus affect locals with asthma or other breathing problems, slowed the department down Tuesday.
    Jordan Cutler-Tietjen, sacbee, 19 June 2018
  • But these dry times have created more temperature inversions (and more dust in the atmosphere); a layer of warmer air traps cooler air below, forcing the particulates and pollution to the ground.
    Mike Sager, Esquire, 25 Feb. 2015
  • Pollution levels have climbed over the past few days due to a temperature inversion, air-monitoring specialist Adam Petrusky said.
    Hannah Rodriguez, The Seattle Times, 23 Oct. 2018
  • The weather service noted that gravity waves had been trapped below a strong temperature inversion -- an increase of the air temperature with height -- just above the surface, roughly the lowest 1,500 feet of the atmosphere.
    Allison Chinchar, CNN, 17 Apr. 2021
  • But during a temperature inversion, the air warms as the elevation increases.
    Robin Goist, cleveland, 19 Nov. 2019
  • These conditions create a temperature inversion, trapping particulates underneath a layer of warm air -- meaning there's nowhere for the smog to go.
    Eliza MacKintosh, CNN, 14 Nov. 2019
  • The fine particulate matter in the air is expected to exceed the standard due to light winds, high humidity, and a metrological effect known as a temperature inversion in Northeast Ohio.
    Robin Goist, cleveland, 19 Nov. 2019
  • The cell signals above Melbourne were interacting with an atmospheric quirk known as a temperature inversion.
    Matt Simon, Wired, 5 May 2021
  • But a temperature inversion creates a kind of atmospheric cap, dramatically bending the signal toward the ground.
    Matt Simon, Wired, 5 May 2021
  • Air quality may lower Tuesday due to temperature inversions.
    oregonlive, 11 Feb. 2020
  • In December of 1952, a temperature inversion, a relatively common wintertime meteorological event, developed in the skies above London, trapping cold air under a layer of warmer air.
    Brooke Jarvis, The New Yorker, 18 Jan. 2021
  • During a temperature inversion, Kimball said, showers don’t normally produce enough instability to cause thunder.
    Lavendrick Smith, charlotteobserver, 30 Jan. 2018
  • An overnight temperature inversion is normal, according to weather service meteorologist Andrew Kimball.
    Lavendrick Smith, charlotteobserver, 30 Jan. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'temperature inversion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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