How to Use clear-air turbulence in a Sentence

clear-air turbulence

noun
  • Yes, at least with clear-air turbulence, some scientists say.
    Ramon Padilla, USA TODAY, 18 July 2023
  • The rise is most notable in clear-air turbulence, which is difficult to detect.
    Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Even the best weather models can’t pinpoint where clear-air turbulence will occur.
    Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • But just because a plane can survive a fierce run-in with clear-air turbulence, doesn’t mean airlines want to make flying through it a habit.
    Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Over the past four decades clear-air turbulence has increased by up to 55 percent in various regions around the world.
    Katherine Wright, Scientific American, 1 July 2023
  • But the most dangerous type is clear-air turbulence, which can be hard to predict and often with no visible warning in the sky ahead.
    Dallas News, 21 Dec. 2022
  • But the most dangerous type is clear-air turbulence, which can be hard to predict and often gives no visible warning in the sky ahead.
    Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2023
  • Experts say the best way to prepare for a clear-air turbulence encounter is to remain buckled in your seat while not moving about the cabin.
    Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 25 June 2026
  • But the rise in clear-air turbulence, often far from storms and undetectable by radar, is especially alarming.
    Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • It’s called clear-air turbulence and is most often used to describe turbulence near jet streams, wavy rivers of fast-moving air high in the atmosphere where planes cruise.
    Renée Rigdon, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Why clear-air turbulence is different Turbulence can form in many ways, often near thunderstorms or heavy clouds.
    Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Although remote weather radar can’t spot clear-air turbulence, that hasn’t stopped engineers from trying to design a solution.
    Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 5 Sep. 2023
  • This is especially true for clear-air turbulence, the invisible kind that strikes without warning in otherwise calm skies.
    Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Williams’ analysis predicted that clear-air turbulence would increase significantly across the world in the coming decades.
    Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 21 May 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
  • As the planet warms, clear-air turbulence is intensifying, according to recent research.
    Renée Rigdon, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2025
  • One widely cited 2023 study examined clear-air turbulence trends since 1979.
    Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2025
  • 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
  • But for clear-air turbulence pilots still rely on reports from other pilots who have already passed through it—an unsatisfactory arrangement for both parties.
    Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Wednesday’s Lufthansa flight hit severe clear-air turbulence about 90 minutes after takeoff, the AP noted.
    Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 3 Mar. 2023
  • How clear-air turbulence occurs Pockets created by jet streams traveling at different speeds and directions cause clear-air turbulence.
    Ramon Padilla, USA TODAY, 18 July 2023
  • But clear-air turbulence is fundamentally different.
    Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Since 1979, clear-air turbulence has increased by as much as fifty-five per cent over the North Atlantic and forty-one per cent over the United States.
    Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Earlier studies suggest climate change may worsen clear-air turbulence, but limited data and modeling challenges mean these findings should be seen as suggestive, not conclusive.
    Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Some studies suggest that rising global temperatures may intensify wind shear in jet streams, potentially leading to more frequent or severe clear-air turbulence, but this is still speculative.
    Jim Foerster, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Robert Alexander/Getty Images Williams' research found that by 2050, pilots will likely encounter at least twice as much clear-air turbulence.
    Catherine Garcia, The Week, 11 Mar. 2023
  • The main consequence for aviation is an increase in clear-air turbulence, or in-flight bumpiness at high altitudes in regions devoid of significant cloudiness or nearby thunderstorms, as the jet stream becomes more unstable.
    New York Times, 22 Aug. 2019
  • This invisibility is what makes clear-air turbulence particularly dangerous.
    Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Turbulence can be unexpected, particularly clear-air turbulence.
    John Cox, USA TODAY, 6 Nov. 2020
  • If carbon-dioxide emissions continue apace, Williams estimates, moderate or greater clear-air turbulence could rise by as much as a hundred and seventy per cent on flight routes over the North Atlantic by the middle of the century.
    Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026

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

Last Updated: