Download air mass and fronts notes

Air Masses:
Air Mass- A huge body of air that has a similar temperature (warm or cold), humidity (dry
or wet), and air pressure (high or low), at any given.
a.) Four major types of air masses influence the weather in North America:
i) Continental Tropical
ii) Continental Polar
iii) Maritime Tropical
iv) Maritime polar
b.) Types of air masses:
i) Continental: land (dry)
ii) Mar: sea (wet)
iii) Tropical: warm/hot
iv) Polar: cold
c.) The area that the air mass forms over will determine its characteristics.
i) For example: If the source region is an ocean, the air mass will have a lot of
moisture.
ii) For example: If the source region is land, the air mass will be drie
d.) Putting it together
i) Maritime Polar: Wet and cold
ii) Continental Polar: Dry and cold
iii) Maritime Tropical: Wet and warm
iv) Continental Tropical: Dry and warm
e) Air masses and their origin
Air Masses
Origin
Maritime Tropical
Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic and Pacific
Ocean
Continental Tropical
Southwest and Northern Mexico
Maritime Polar
North Pacific and North Atlantic
Continental Polar
Central and Northern Canada and
Alaska
f) How air masses move
i) Jet streams push air masses west to east.
ii) Prevailing westerlies
Fronts:
The boundary where 2 unlike air masses meet is called a front.
a) 4 types of fronts:
i.) Warm
ii.) Cold
iii.) Stationary
iv.) Occluded
b) Front symbols and direction:
i) Front symbols point in the direction of movement.
ii) Example: In the picture below, the warm, cold, and occluded fronts are moving
North and the stationary front is not moving in any direction.
iii) Draw a cold front moving east: ____________________________
iv) Draw a warm front moving south: ________________________
v) Draw an occluded front moving northeast: __________________
c) Cold Fronts
i) A cold front is when a fast-moving cold air mass takes over a warm air mass.
ii) Possible weather: Clouds with possible thunderstorms with heavy rains or
snow, stormy weather on the way.
d) Warm Fronts
i) A warm front is when a warm air mass overtakes a slow-moving cold air mass.
ii) Possible weather: Humid, light rain or snow for several days; warmer weather
on the way.
e) Stationary Fronts
i) A stationary front is when cold and warm air masses meet and neither can
move the other.
ii) Possible weather: The air masses remain stalled over an area, and may bring
several days of clouds and precipitation.
f) Occluded Fronts
i) An occluded front is when a warm air mass is caught between two cold air
masses.
ii) Possible weather: Cloudy and rain or snow.