![]() With a cold front, a colder air mass is replacing a warmer air mass. 3-D view of a cold front.įronts are identified by change of temperature based upon their motion. Where air masses converge, they form boundaries called "fronts". As the jet stream changes intensity and position, it affects the motion and strength of air masses. The motion of air mass motion is usually based upon the air flow in the upper atmosphere. This is called a continental polar air mass (cP). it will pick up some of the warmth of the ground, but due to lack of moisture it remains very dry. If that same polar air mass moves south from Canada into the southern U.S. For example, in winter an arctic air mass (very cold and dry air) can move over the ocean, picking up some warmth and moisture from the warmer ocean and becoming a maritime polar air mass (mP) - one that is still fairly cold but contains moisture. The desert region air masses (hot and dry) are designated by 'cT' for 'continental tropical'.Īs these air masses move around the earth they can begin to acquire additional attributes. Maritime polar (mP) is also cold but moist due to its origination over the oceans. Continental polar (cP) is not as cold as the Arctic air mass but is also very dry. ![]() Putting both designations together, we have, for example, a "continental arctic" air mass designated by 'cA', which source is over the poles and therefore very cold and dry. ![]() Tropical air masses, designated by the letter 'T', are warm/hot as they originate over the lower latitudes of both land and sea.Polar air masses, designated by the letter 'P', are not as cold as Arctic air masses as they originate over the higher latitudes of both land and sea.Arctic air masses, designated by the letter 'A', are very cold as they originate over the Arctic or Antarctic regions.Each of the two divisions are then divided based upon the temperature content of the surface over which they originate.
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