Weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) methods have been developed to simultaneously provide robust shock-capturing in compressible fluid flow and avoid excessive damping of fine-scale flow features such as turbulence. Under certain conditions in compressible turbulence, however, numerical dissipation remains unacceptably high even after optimization of the linear component that dominates in smooth regions. Of the nonlinear error that remains, we demonstrate that a large fraction is generated by a "synchronization deficiency" that interferes with the expression of theoretically predicted numerical performance characteristics when the WENO adaptation mechanism is engaged. This deficiency is illustrated numerically in simulations of a linearly advected sinusoidal wave and the Shu-Osher problem [J. Comput. Phys., 83 (1989), pp. 32-78]. It is shown that attempting to correct this deficiency through forcible synchronization results in violation of conservation. We conclude that, for the given choice of candidate stencils, the synchronization deficiency cannot be adequately resolved under the current WENO smoothness measurement technique.