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wind shear A change in wind direction or speed in a short distance, resulting in a shearing effect. It can act in a horizontal or vertical direction and, occasionally, in both. The degree of turbulence increases as the amount of wind shear increases. The line or narrow zone where the shear takes place is called a shear line. The tails of mare's tails cirrus are caused by ice crystals falling across the wind shear created by a band of strong winds aloft. Gap wind almost always create a prominent wind shear in the region where they start to accelerate into the gap.

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