Determining Stability » Potential Instability Processes That Change the Potential Instability

In general, those processes that increase the moisture content of the lower levels and/or decrease the moisture content at higher levels tend to create or increase potential instability.
This graphic shows an example over the southern U.S. with advection of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico at low levels and advection of drier air to the lee of the Rocky Mountains in southwesterly flow aloft. These conditions substantially increase potential instability leading to initiation of severe thunderstorms over the Southern Plains, especially in the spring season.
It is important to note that all the previously discussed effects that change the lapse rate can indirectly change the vertical distribution of potential stability and instability at a given location.