1. Weather Fronts A weather front is a boundary separating two masses of air of different densitiesmasses of airdensities

2. Air Mass An air mass is a large body of air with similar properties of temperature and moisture in any horizontal direction at any given altitude

3. Air Masses

4. Air Masses 1.cA (Continental Arctic) - very cold, dry 2.cP (Continental Polar) - cold, dry 3. mP (Maritime Polar) - cool, moist 4. cT (Continental Tropical) - hot, dry 5. mT (Maritime Tropical) - warm, moist Continental = land Maritime = water

5. Side View of a Typical Cold Front

6. Characteristics of a Cold Front: Cold front- a front in which cold air is replacing warm air at the surface. Cold fronts tend to move faster than all other types of fronts. Cold fronts tend to be associated with the most violent weather among all types of fronts. Cold fronts tend to move the farthest while maintaining their intensity. Cold fronts usually bring cooler weather, clearing skies, and a sharp change in wind direction.

7. Side View of a Typical Warm Front

8. Characteristics of a Warm Front: Warm front- a front in which warm air replaces cooler air at the surface. Warm fronts tend to move slowly. Warm fronts are typically less violent than cold fronts. Behind the warm front, skies are relatively clear (but change gradually). Warm fronts are associated with a frontal inversion (warm air overrunning cooler air). inversion

9. Occluded Front

10. Development of an Occluded Front

11. Stationary Front

12. Characteristics of a Stationary Front Stationary front- a front that does not move or barely moves. Stationary fronts behave like warm fronts Many times the winds on both sides of a stationary front are parallel to the front.

13. What is the temperature??