Narrative:

We were at FL340; approaching an area where there was convective activity and moderate turbulence had been reported. I advised the flight attendants and passengers of the possibility of turbulence; the seat belt sign would be on; and to remain seated. We elected to climb to FL360 to try to top all of the clouds. The winds aloft were out of the west at 120 kts; we were downwind; but we were more than 20 miles from any precipitation. Maneuver margin was still adequate. I was in the green.as we crossed the area; we were still in the cloud tops and we encountered the moderate turbulence. I immediately realized my first mistake. We were still too close to the weather with the winds aloft; and I told the PF (pilot flying) to turn right while I coordinated with ATC. He did so and the autopilot went from LNAV to cws (control wheel steering) roll. I was now in the yellow.we were still in the bumps; and the airplane started a roll to the left. I waited a second for the PF to correct; and when it didn't happen; I told the PF to roll wings level. Rather than roll wings level; we rolled more left. Bank angle alerted; we were rolling towards 45 degrees; the red/black low speed zipper came up; and the stick shaker went off. I was now way beyond red.I ordered 'roll right; roll right; power; power!' he rolled to the right and we regained wings level; reduced the power so we wouldn't overspeed; engaged heading select; and shortly thereafter exited the bumps. There was no altitude deviation. I checked with the flight attendants and they and the passengers were ok. I apologized profusely. We advised ATC and dispatch of the moderate turbulence.I then set out to find out why we hadn't immediately corrected the roll. The PF was under the false impression that when the autopilot reverted to cws it would correct back to wings level. Small bank yes; but not this. He was waiting for the autopilot to correct. I cannot answer as to why we initially rolled the wrong way during the correction. I made sure he understood how we had screwed this up and how close we came to stalling this airplane! This was not a minor event. I cannot begin to express the disappointment I have in myself. I would like to think I am a professional. I was not. There are steps I should have taken to prevent what happened. First; I should have went further away from the convective activity. Being downwind with a 120 kt wind aloft; near the cloud tops was not the place to be. Had I done that; none of this would have happened. I should have reviewed the moderate turbulence procedures with the PF. The autopilot can be on; but you still have to fly the airplane. You cannot wait for the autopilot to make the corrections. At the first instance I realized the PF was having difficulty; I should have taken the airplane. This was not the time to coach a recovery.I contemplated whether this was moderate or severe turbulence. The taps (turbulence auto-PIREP system) event listed as moderate. I reviewed the intensity levels; and decided that positive control of the aircraft was maintainable; but we failed to do so.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-800 Flight Crew reported a momentary stick shaker event at FL340 while crossing through an area of convection.

Narrative: We were at FL340; approaching an area where there was convective activity and moderate turbulence had been reported. I advised the flight attendants and passengers of the possibility of turbulence; the seat belt sign would be on; and to remain seated. We elected to climb to FL360 to try to top all of the clouds. The winds aloft were out of the west at 120 kts; we were downwind; but we were more than 20 miles from any precipitation. Maneuver margin was still adequate. I was in the green.As we crossed the area; we were still in the cloud tops and we encountered the moderate turbulence. I immediately realized my first mistake. We were still too close to the weather with the winds aloft; and I told the PF (Pilot Flying) to turn right while I coordinated with ATC. He did so and the autopilot went from LNAV to CWS (Control Wheel Steering) roll. I was now in the yellow.We were still in the bumps; and the airplane started a roll to the left. I waited a second for the PF to correct; and when it didn't happen; I told the PF to roll wings level. Rather than roll wings level; we rolled more left. Bank angle alerted; we were rolling towards 45 degrees; the red/black low speed zipper came up; and the stick shaker went off. I was now way beyond red.I ordered 'Roll Right; Roll Right; Power; Power!' He rolled to the right and we regained wings level; reduced the power so we wouldn't overspeed; engaged heading select; and shortly thereafter exited the bumps. There was no altitude deviation. I checked with the flight attendants and they and the passengers were OK. I apologized profusely. We advised ATC and Dispatch of the moderate turbulence.I then set out to find out why we hadn't immediately corrected the roll. The PF was under the false impression that when the autopilot reverted to CWS it would correct back to wings level. Small bank yes; but not this. He was waiting for the autopilot to correct. I cannot answer as to why we initially rolled the wrong way during the correction. I made sure he understood how we had screwed this up and how close we came to stalling this airplane! This was not a minor event. I cannot begin to express the disappointment I have in myself. I would like to think I am a professional. I was not. There are steps I should have taken to prevent what happened. First; I should have went further away from the convective activity. Being downwind with a 120 kt wind aloft; near the cloud tops was not the place to be. Had I done that; none of this would have happened. I should have reviewed the moderate turbulence procedures with the PF. The autopilot can be on; but you still have to fly the airplane. You cannot wait for the autopilot to make the corrections. At the first instance I realized the PF was having difficulty; I should have taken the airplane. This was not the time to coach a recovery.I contemplated whether this was moderate or severe turbulence. The TAPS (Turbulence Auto-PIREP System) event listed as moderate. I reviewed the intensity levels; and decided that positive control of the aircraft was maintainable; but we failed to do so.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.