Airports across the Mountain West are dominating a new ranking of the most turbulent in the United States, underscoring how the region's mountainous terrain shapes flight conditions.
A new analysis from the site Turbli finds that eight of the 10 most turbulent airports in the country are in the Mountain West, where air moving over major mountain ranges can create unstable conditions during takeoff and landing.
Denver ranked first, followed by Bozeman, Montana; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Salt Lake City; and Jackson, Wyoming.
Las Vegas, Reno, and Boise also made the top 10.
The phenomenon is largely driven by geography. As winds flow across ranges like the Sierra Nevada and the Rockies, they can form "mountain wave" turbulence, ripples in the atmosphere that can extend far above the surface and affect aircraft well beyond the airport itself.
Jason Ambrosi, commercial pilot and president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said pilots are trained to manage those conditions.
"We receive training on strategies to avoid and mitigate turbulence, how to fly through it. Our airplanes are built to withstand turbulence," Ambrosi said. "It's just something that pilots mitigate on a daily basis. We plan for it and brief the passengers that we might have a little bit of a choppy ride in or out."
He added that crews use forecasting tools, training, and operational adjustments to navigate turbulent conditions safely.
The ranking comes as researchers continue to study whether climate change may be influencing turbulence patterns in aviation. Some studies suggest turbulence could become more frequent as the atmosphere warms, though experts say forecasting and avoidance tools continue to improve.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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