Download Air Masses and Fronts

OBJECTIVE: Describe the four
major types of fronts.
• INTRO
– Write Q&A in notebook:
• What does temperature have to do with weather?
• Do certain temperatures create certain types of
weather?
Air Masses and Fronts
Air Masses and Fronts
• air mass
• 4 types of air
masses
• A large body of air where
temperature and moisture
content are constant
throughout.
• Changes in weather are
caused by the movement
and interaction of air
masses.
• Maritime
• Continental
• Polar
• Tropical
Air Masses and Fronts
• Maritime (m)
• Continental (c)
• Polar (P)
• Tropical (T)
•
•
•
•
•
Forms over water
Moist / wet
Forms over land
Dry
Forms over polar
regions
• Cold
• Develops over the
tropics
• Warm
Fronts
•
•
Front
• The boundary
between air masses
• Remember:
– Cold air – is dense
– Warm air – less
dense
4 Types of Fronts
•
•
•
•
Cold
Warm
Occluded
Stationary
Air Masses and Fronts
• Cold Fronts
• Forms where cold
air moves under
warm air, which is
less dense, and
pushes the warm air
up.
• Brings sever
thunderstorms,
heavy precipitation
• Followed by cool,
clear weather
Air Masses and Fronts
•
Warm Fronts
•
•
•
A warm front forms
where warm air
moves over cold,
denser air.
Brings drizzly rain
Followed by clear,
warm weather
Air Masses and Fronts
• Occluded Front
• Forms when a warm
air mass is caught
between two colder
air masses.
• Brings cool
temperatures and
large amounts of rain
or snow.
Air Masses and Fronts
• Stationary Front
• Forms when cold and
warm air masses
collide and cannot
move past each other
• Brings many days of
cloudy, rainy weather.