page_title: Inversion (meteorology)
hierarchical_section_title: Inversion (meteorology)
caption_attribution_description: English: Smog over Almaty city, Kazakhstan Русский: Смог над Алматой, Казахстан Latviešu: Bieza migla virs Almati, Kazahstāna
context_page_description: In meteorology, an inversion, also known as a temperature inversion, is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the thermal lapse rate. Normally, air temperature decreases with an increase in altitude. During an inversion, warmer air is held above cooler air; the normal temperature profile with altitude is inverted.
  An inversion traps air pollution, such as smog, close to the ground. An inversion can also suppress convection by acting as a "cap". If this cap is broken for any of several reasons, convection of any moisture present can then erupt into violent thunderstorms. Temperature inversion can notoriously result in freezing rain in cold climates.
context_section_description: In meteorology, an inversion, also known as a temperature inversion, is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude.  It almost always refers to an inversion of the thermal lapse rate.  Normally, air temperature decreases with an increase in altitude. During an inversion, warmer air is held above cooler air; the normal temperature profile with altitude is inverted. 
  An inversion traps air pollution, such as smog, close to the ground. An inversion can also suppress convection by acting as a "cap". If this cap is broken for any of several reasons, convection of any moisture present can then erupt into violent thunderstorms. Temperature inversion can notoriously result in freezing rain in cold climates.
caption: Smog trapped over the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan during a temperature inversion.
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