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II.
Air Masses and Fronts
A. Air masses
* air mass is a large body of _____ that has similar ______________ and
______________ throughout
1) air masses get their ____________ and ______________ characteristics
from the area over which it forms
2) air masses are represented by _____letters…the first indicates the
_____________ characteristics and the second letter represents the
_____________ characteristic of the air mass
a) maritime (m) forms over water, generally _____
b) continental (c) forms over land, generally _____
c) polar (P)
forms over the polar regions, _____
d) tropical (T) forms over the tropics, _____
B. Fronts
* ___________ between two different air masses with different
characteristics
1. Weather at fronts is generally __________ and __________.
2. Fronts occur in middle latitude areas where there are both warm and
cold air masses
a) ___________ _______________…
 fast moving ______ air mass that forces a _________ air
mass upward
 ________________ heavy rain, snow
 _______ weather follows
b) ____________ _______________…
 warm air mass meets and ____________a cold air mass
 __________precipitation
 _______ and ________ weather follows
c) _____________ ______________…
 _________moving cold air mass takes over another cold air
mass
 forces warmer air upward
 ________ temperatures and ________amounts of precipitation
d) _____________________ __________…
 a weak ______ air mass meets up with a _______ air mass
 little/no ______________ occurs
 ______________ precipitation