Any agitation, disruption, or interruption of the state of equilibrium of the atmosphere: An atmospheric disturbance can take place in an area showing signs of a developing cyclonic circulation.

An atmospheric disturbance can be a periodic disruption in the fields of atmospheric variables, like surface pressure or geopotential height, temperature, or wind velocity, which may either propagate (traveling wave) or not (stationary wave).

Atmospheric waves range in spatial and temporal scale from large-scale planetary waves (Rossby waves or giant meanders, twists and turns, in high-altitude winds that are a major influence on weather) to minute sound waves.