Is turbulence worse at night or day?

Is Turbulence Worse at Night or Day?

Many travelers believe night flights are bumpier than daytime ones, conjuring images of dark skies and unsettling jolts. But is there any truth to this perception, or is it just an anxious flyer’s myth? The answer, like many things related to weather, is nuanced.

The key factor in most turbulence is atmospheric instability. During the day, the sun heats the Earth unevenly, causing warm air to rise and create thermals. These rising pockets of air can be particularly strong over land, especially during hot summer afternoons. This thermal activity is a major contributor to what’s known as convective turbulence, the kind that feels like going over a series of speed bumps. This suggests daytime flights, especially at lower altitudes, are more susceptible to this type of turbulence.

However, airliners cruising at high altitudes often encounter a different beast: Clear-Air Turbulence (CAT). This type of turbulence isn’t associated with thunderstorms or clouds and is frequently linked to the jet stream, those powerful rivers of wind high in the atmosphere. While these winds can be incredibly strong, and therefore create significant turbulence, their underlying cause is still linked to temperature.

Jet streams form due to large temperature differences between air masses. While these temperature gradients can exist day and night, they aren’t directly influenced by the daily heating and cooling cycle in the same way surface-level thermals are. So, while the jet stream itself might not be significantly stronger at night, the lack of visual cues like clouds can make CAT more surprising and therefore seem more intense. Pilots have fewer visual warnings and rely more heavily on forecasts and reports from other aircraft.

So, while daytime heating fuels the thermal turbulence that makes those lower-altitude flights potentially bumpier, the high-altitude turbulence encountered by airliners is less directly tied to the time of day. The underlying cause of both types, however – temperature differences in the atmosphere – is a constant, whether the sun is shining or the moon is out. The perceived difference in turbulence intensity at night might be more about the element of surprise and anxiety related to flying in darkness than an actual increase in atmospheric instability.