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TURBULENCE

METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY

Turbulence is a chaotic mixing within a fluid. In the atmosphere, turbulence is common at the surface due to speed and directional wind shear and surface friction. Generally, air volumes with different densities will not mix very well. They do mix best at their edges and where the air volumes chaotically mix into each other. An example, is the air in an outflow boundary crashing with environmental air. The outflow boundary air is typically denser and thus undercuts the warmer environmental air. At the edges of these air volumes there can be intense mixing. The diagram below shows an example of chaotic air mixing. This will produce variable wind directions and temperature differences within the turbulent air.