Capping inversion

A convective layer such as this has the potential for cloud formation, since condensation occurs as the warm air rises and cools.

However, if the air at the surface is unstable enough, strong updrafts can be forced through the capping inversion.

This selective process of only allowing the strongest updrafts to form thunderstorms often results in outbreaks of severe weather.

The role of capping inversions in bolstering the intensity of severe weather was realized in conceptual models that were developed by atmospheric science researchers in the late 1960s and had been recognized as a characteristic of tornado-producing airmasses as early as 1954.

[2][3] In some severe weather events, this capping inversion can emerge when a warm and dry mixed layer originating over a high plateau moves over a cooler and moister airmass, forming an "elevated mixed layer" (EML).