wind shear
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Encyclopedic overview
Cirrus uncinus ice crystal plumes showing high-level wind shear, with changes in wind speed and direction
Wind shear (/ʃɪər/; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal wind shear. Vertical wind shear is a change in wind speed or direction with a change in altitude. Horizontal wind shear is a change in wind speed with a change in lateral position for a given altitude.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “wind shear” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.