Why It's So Bumpy

I recently got a question from a reader: When you are flying in clouds and the ride is bumpy, is it bumpy because its cloudy or is it cloudy because its bumpy? Good question. Turbulence is often approached from a rather pragmatic approach in aviation, and that often leaves pilots with questions about where it fits in with weather patterns. Lets look at this piecemeal. From a meteorological perspective, turbulence is bumpiness caused by flight into an area where wind is changing over a small distance.

Tim Vasquez

Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Turbulence, distinct from clouds, is caused by wind changing over small distances (shear and eddies) and manifests in various forms including clear air turbulence (CAT), mountain wave turbulence, and low-level turbulence (thermal and mechanical).
While not all clouds cause turbulence, convective clouds (like cumulonimbus) generate significant turbulence through their internal updraft and downdraft motions, with "convection-induced turbulence" also possible around storm anvils.
To ensure safety during turbulence, pilots should reduce airspeed to maneuvering speed, make gentle control inputs, hand-fly the aircraft to maintain stability, and communicate with air traffic control regarding deviations.

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I recently got a question from a reader: “When you are flying in clouds and the ride is bumpy, is it bumpy because it’s cloudy or is it cloudy because it’s bumpy?” Good question. Turbulence is often approached from a rather pragmatic approach in aviation, and that often leaves pilots with questions about where it fits in with weather patterns.

Let’s look at this piecemeal. From a meteorological perspective, turbulence is bumpiness caused by flight into an area where wind is changing over a small distance. And we’re talking very small distances. While flying at 150 knots and being pulled upward one second, downward the next, and up again after another second, we can see that these changes are on the scale of hundreds of feet, and often even smaller. They may exist as areas of wind shear, where wind speed and direction is changing sharply from one location to another, or as turbulent eddies, where the wind flow has broken into a whirl, like a wave.