temperature inversion

American  

noun

Meteorology.

1. inversion.

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temperature inversion British  

noun

1. meteorol an abnormal increase in temperature with height in the troposphere

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Etymology

Origin of temperature inversion

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Computer modeling yielded another surprise: the brown dwarf likely has a temperature inversion, a phenomenon in which the atmosphere gets warmer with increasing altitude.

From Science Daily • Apr. 17, 2024

The resulting temperature inversion drew in low-level clouds along the line of sight between the radar and the warship.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 17, 2023

This indicated to Anderson that there could be a temperature inversion, in which “heavy air density and cloud coverage could prohibit smoke from the burn from traveling upward,” he said.

From Slate • Mar. 7, 2023

A temperature inversion likely spread the smell, city officials said.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 14, 2022

Coming from the west, the Pacific trade winds hit the cold air from the Humboldt Current and are forced upward in a classic temperature inversion of the sort common in southern California.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann