Download Continental Air Mass

Weather Producers
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• Introduction
– There is a shift in weather during the changes of the
seasons that is related to:
• Movement of air masses
• Leading fronts of air masses
• high and low pressure areas
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• Air Masses
– Polar air mass
• An air mass that moves from a cold region
– Tropical Air Mass
• An air mass that moves from a warm region
– Continental Air Mass
• Moves in from a land mass
– Maritime Air Mass
• Moves in from over an ocean
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– Major types of air masses
• Continental Polar
– Cold
– Dry
• Maritime Polar
– Cold
– Moist
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• Continental Tropical
– Warm
– Dry
• Maritime tropical
– Warm
– Moist
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• The general movement of the four main types of air masses
that influence the weather over the contiguous United
States. The tropical air masses visit most often in the
summer, and the polar air masses visit most often during the
winter. During other times, the polar and tropical air masses
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battle back and forth over
the land.
• This satellite photograph shows the result of a polar air
mass moving southeast over the southern United States.
Clouds form over the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico
and the Atlantic Ocean, showing the state of atmospheric
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instability from the temperature
differences.
– Air mass weather
• When the weather in an area is under the influence of
an air mass.
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• Weather Fronts
– Front
• A boundary between two different air masses
– Cold Front
• When a cold air mass moves into a warmer area,
displacing the warm air mass
• Provides lift to adiabatically cool the warm air,
resulting in towering cumulus and thunderclouds.
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• (A)A cold air mass is
similar to a huge,
flattened bubble of
cold air that moves
across the land. The
front is the boundary
between two air
masses, a narrow
transition zone of
mixing. (B) A front is
represented by a line
on a weather map,
which shows the
location of the front at
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ground level.
• An idealized cold front, showing the types of clouds that
might occur when an unstable cold air mass moves through
unstable warm air. Stable air would result in more stratus
clouds rather than cumulus
clouds.
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– Warm Front
• When a warm air mass moves into an area, displacing
the cold air mass
• A gently sloping front as the Warm air moves over top
of the cooler air.
– Stationary Front
• When the edge of a front ceases to advance
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• An idealized warm front, showing a warm air mass
overriding and pushing cold air in front of it. Notice that the
overriding warm air produces a predictable sequence of
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clouds far in advance of
the moving front.
• Waves and Cyclones
– Occluded Front
• One that has been lifted completely off the ground
• Has s low pressure center and cyclonic activity
– Cyclone
• a low pressure area with winds moving into the low
pressure area and being forced upward.
• Friction and the Coriolis effect cause the air to move
to the right of the direction of movement.
– Anticyclone
• A high pressure center
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• The development of a low-pressure center, or cyclonic
storm, along a stationary front as seen from above. (A) A
stationary front with cold air on the north side and warm air
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on the south side.
• (B) A wave develops, producing a warm front
moving northward on the right side and a cold front
moving southward on
the left side.
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• (C) The cold front lifts the warm front off the
surface at the apex, forming a low-pressure center.
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• (D) When the warm front is completely lifted off the
surface, an occluded front is formed.
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• (E) The cyclonic storm is now a fully developed
low-pressure center.
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