Atmospheric instability

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Atmospheric instability is a condition where the atmosphere is generally considered to be unstable and as a result the weather is subject to a high degree of variability through distance and time ^[1].

There are two primary forms of atmospheric instability^[2]:

• Convective Instability

• Dynamic Instability

Under convective instability thermal mixing through convection in the form of warm air rising leads to the development of clouds and possibly precipitation or convective storms.

Dynamic instability is produced through the horizontal movement of air and the physical forces it is subjected to such as the Coriolis force and pressure gradient force. Dynamic lifting and mixing produces cloud, precipitation and storms often on a synoptic scale.

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