updraft and downdraft

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

thunderstorm: structure

thunderstorm microburst

Examine how rapid warm-air updrafts form cumulonimbus thunderclouds that produce heavy rains and lightning

How does a tornado form?

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Flower. Fruit tree. Cherry. Cherry tree. Cherry blossom. Spring. Close-up of cherry blossoms in bloom.

The Perils of an Early Spring

September 11, 2005, ozone thinning over antarctica reached its maximum extent for the year.

Is the Ozone Layer Finally Healing Itself?

Lightning over the outskirts of Oradea, Rom., during the thunderstorm of August 17, 2005.

16 Questions About Earth’s Atmsophere and Weather Answered

Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree

Can Lightning Strike the Same Place Twice?

Hot-air balloon against a sky (clouds, hot air ballooning, recreation)

Why Is the Sky Blue?

Discover

Fish. Lionfish. Lion-fish. Turkey fish. Fire-fish. Red lionfish. Pterois volitans. Venomous fin spines. Coral reefs. Underwater. Ocean. Red lionfish swims by seaweed.

10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Fish

Hemp (Cannabis sativa).

9 Mind-Altering Plants

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

Entrants falling and tumbling over while chasing the cheese at the 2016 'Cheese Rolling' held at Cooper's Hill, in the Cotswolds, Brockworth England

7 of the World’s Most Dangerous Festivals

Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).

What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Ahura Mazda - relief of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda at the ancient ruins of Persepolis in Iran. Also known as Ormazd Zoroastrianism,

Which Religion Is the Oldest?

updraft and downdraft: Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos and Videos

thunderstorm: structure

thunderstorm microburst

Examine how rapid warm-air updrafts form cumulonimbus thunderclouds that produce heavy rains and lightning

How does a tornado form?

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

high-level heat source thermal thermal mountain effect downdraft atmospheric turbulence lee wave clear-air turbulence wind shear air pocket Why Do Stars Twinkle?

Quiz

Iceland, Glacier lagoon (Jokulsarlon)

Winter Weather Words Quiz

Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree

Facts You Should Know: Weather Quiz

Umbrella colored like a rainbow sticking out above a sea of black umbrellas while it rains. (storm, weather)

Weather Words Vocabulary Quiz

rain. Child in the rain, wearing a rain coat, under a yellow umbrella. April Showers weather climate rain storm water drops

April Showers to March’s Lions and Lambs