Atmospheric Fronts: Understanding Different Types and Their Weather Signs, Study notes of Meteorology

Download Atmospheric Fronts: Understanding Different Types and Their Weather Signs and more Study notes Meteorology in PDF only on Docsity! ic Fronts A Atmosp Temperature Change (°F) “55 m-s 65 i Serre yy, Current Temperatures anes sy dl Et ya) eee y ee ae ee ee I co teh ee fe ou ct ee cet Re Types of Fronts • Stationary fronts: boundary between the two air masses is not moving. • Cold fronts: cold, dry stable air is replacing warm, moist unstable air. • Warm fonts: warm, moist unstable air is replacing cold dry stable air. • Occluded fronts: when a cold front caches up with a warm front it forms an occluded front. • The symbols on a map are in the direction of the air mass motion. Surface Pressure Map With Fronts © 2001 Brooks/Cole PublishingATP SIMPLIFIEDKEY Cold front Warm front Stationary front Occluded front Light snow ee = Light rain A Sleet Wind direction (N) Wind speed (10 knots wee 1 ( ) 22 Air temperature 22°F Dew point 15° F What are the Signs of a Passing Front? •Signs ♦ Sharp temperature change over a short distance. ♦ Changes in the dew point (the moisture content). ♦ Shifts in wind direction ♦ Pressure and pressure changes. ♦ Low pressure troughs. ♦ Clouds and precipitation pattern. •The location of the front is not always very obvious! Warm Fronts • Warm front- a front in which warm air replaces cooler air at the surface. Characteristics of a Warm Front • The slope of a typical warm front is 1:200 (more gentle than cold fronts). • Warm fronts tend to move slowly . • Warm fronts are typically less violent than cold fronts. • Although they can trigger thunderstorms, warm fronts are more likely to be associated with large regions of stratiform clouds and light to moderate continuous rain. • Warm fronts are usually preceded by cirrus first, then altostratus or altocumulus, then stratus and possibly fog. • Behind the warm front, skies are relatively clear (but change gradually). • Warm fronts are associated with a frontal inversion (warm air overrunning cooler air). Occluded fronts.  Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts. They can catch up and overtake their related warm front. When they do, an occluded front is formed.   Cold occlusion