What time of day is turbulence worst?

If you want to avoid turbulence, book a flight in the morning. “The heating of the ground later causes bumpier air, and it's much more likely to thunderstorm in the afternoon,” Jerry Johnson, a pilot from Los Angeles, told Reader's Digest.



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What Time of Day Has the Most Turbulence? It might be surprising to learn that turbulence is actually worse in the daytime. In the early morning and night time, wind speeds typically reduce, and thunderstorms clear up.

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But if you still are more afraid of traveling on a plane than the ride in a taxi to the airport, here's something to ease your mind. If you want to avoid turbulence, book a flight in the morning.

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The night and early morning is the best time to fly if you want to avoid turbulence. Daytime flights are commonly more turbulent. This is because at night, wind speeds are generally reduced and the temperature is cooler.

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Turbulence, associated with thunderstorms, can be extremely hazardous, having the potential to cause overstressing of the aircraft or loss of control. Thunderstorm vertical currents may be strong enough to displace an aircraft up or down vertically as much as 2000 to 6000 feet.

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Routes with the most turbulence
  • New York to London. One of the most popular routes which experience turbulence is flying from New York to London (and also London to New York). ...
  • Seoul to Dallas. ...
  • Flying into certain airports near the equator. ...
  • Flying into Reno, Nevada. ...
  • London to South Africa.


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All you see is what's outside the window. While it may feel unnerving sitting on a bumpy flight traveling hundreds of miles per hour at thousands of feet in the air, there's no reason to panic or worry. Turbulence is unavoidable. It's experienced on almost every flight to some degree (usually light).

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The best time of day to fly is in the morning, before 8 a.m. Early morning flights are less likely to be delayed or go through turbulence, and they're often cheaper. There are advantages to flying at other times, too, so pick what works best with your travel plans.

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Nighttime or morning flights are statistically better for turbulence, compared to those in the day.

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Autumn has late tropical storms (usually the quietest season). Winter has higher winds, blizzards and more clear air turbulence. Spring has fast-moving fronts and high winds, causing severe squall lines. Each of these events can cause turbulence.

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Yes, weather radar can help predict convective turbulence and clear air turbulence. Most commercial aircraft now pack weather radar – from the Airbus A321 to the Boeing 777.

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Airplanes are built very sturdily. In fact, there's a lot of countermeasures built into the engineering of an airplane much like a car has different things to make a smooth ride on a bumpy road, airplanes have so many parts to it that's built into the aircraft to be able to deal with and safely handle the turbulence.

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A poll taken on A Fly Guy's Cabin Crew Lounge, the largest network of airline staff on social media, revealed that most airline crew not only like turbulence, but they also enjoy it! That's a comforting thought to think about the next time you're worried when your plane starts shaking. '

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Severe turbulence, he added, is “quite rare — only 0.1% of the atmosphere at 40,000 feet has severe turbulence in it, so if you're on a plane it's very unlikely that your plane will hit that 0.1%.”

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The world's most turbulent airport is located in continental China, with Xigazê, Tibet named the most turbulent landing strip in the world - averaging a vomit-coaxing turbulence score of 34.827 EDR, followed by Zhangjiakou, northern China, at 33.417.

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Any plane can experience turbulence, but larger planes weigh more and don't feel the impact of wind changes as much as a smaller plane. Specifically, the Airbus A380 handles turbulence very well! The A380 is a large plane mainly used for international flights.

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Pilots know that flying safely in threatening turbulence requires slowing to VA, the maneuvering speed. This assures that the airplane will stall before its limit load factor can be exceeded. Such a stall is momentary and protects the structure against damaging loads.

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