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Transcript of Weather Part 3: Air Masses & Fronts
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Weather Part 3: Air Masses & Fronts
Air Mass: Huge body of air that has it's own
Temperature
Humidity
Pressure
Characterized by: Temperature and Humidity (How cold/hot the air is and how much water it is
holding)
Types of Air Masses
1. Tropical Air Mass: Warm air mass, low pressure (Comes from tropics)
2. Polar Air Mass: Cold air mass, high pressure (forms in polar regions)
3. Maritime Air Mass: Form over oceans---very humid
4. Continental Air mass: Form over land: Dry air masses
Naming Air Masses
Air masses can be combined to describe where they form, temperature, humidity
Ex. Maritime Tropical: Forms in the tropics over the ocean. They are warm, have low pressure,
high humidity.
Air Mass Movement
Prevailing Westerlies: Major winds of US
Move west to east
Jet Streams: Formed (Embedded) in prevailing westerlies.
Bands of winds approx. 10 km above earth
Fronts: The boundary where two air masses meet
Types of Fronts
***REMINDER: Cold air is more dense than warm air!!!! That will help you with fronts!!!
1. Cold Front: Fast (Rapid) moving cold air mass runs into a slow moving warm air mass
Cold air slides under the warm air pushing it up
The warm air expands and cools forming clouds
can cause abrupt changes in weather due to their rapid movement
2. Warm Fronts: Fast moving warm air mass runs into a slow cold air mass
Warm air moves over cold air
Can produce precipitation, and causes warm, humid days
3. Stationary Fronts: Cold and warm masses meet, but neither can overtake the other---the stand
still
Causes rain and cloudy weather for several days
4. Occluded Front: Complex---A warm air mass is caught between 2 cold air masses...
warm air mass is pushed up
cold air masses meet in middle and mix
temperature becomes cooler---may produce clouds and precipitation