temperature inversion
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English
27
Scrabble Score
20
Letters
6
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An atmospheric condition in which a cooler layer of air lies below a warmer layer of air that functions as a "ceiling" for the cooler layer, interfering with normal atmospheric circulation and trapping pollutants.
Example Sentences
- "Temperature inversions can occur in perfectly clear skies. Samford said such an inversion was present in the Washington area early last Sunday, when up to a dozen unidentified flying objects appeared on radar screens both at Washington national airport and nearby Andrews air base."
- "It's possible that a temperature inversion—a layer of warm air lying on top of a layer of cold air—is causing the sounds of the sonic booms to be carried inland, he said."
- "Bottled up by a temperature inversion, the gunk grew so dense that the Utah Division of Air Quality imposed the season's first "red" no-burn restrictions,"