5 Air Masses, Fronts, and Weather Systems Free Online FlashCards

What is an air mass?

A large body of air with broadly similar temperature and moisture.

What do the labels continental and maritime describe?

Continental air forms over land and is generally drier; maritime air forms over ocean and is generally more humid.

What do tropical, polar, and Arctic labels indicate?

Tropical air is warm; polar and Arctic air are cold.

What are the characteristics of cP air?

Continental polar air is cold and dry.

What is a weather front?

A front is the boundary where air masses meet.

How can a cold front affect weather?

Advancing cold air pushes beneath warm air, lifting it steeply. Showers or thunderstorms may form near the front, followed often by cooler, drier conditions.

How can a warm front affect weather?

Advancing warm air glides gradually over retreating cold air, often producing layered clouds and widespread precipitation ahead of the surface front.

What characterizes a stationary front?

Neither air mass advances much, so clouds or precipitation may persist near the boundary.

How does an occluded front form?

A faster-moving cold front catches up with a warm front, lifting the warm air away from the ground.

How do weather maps mark cold and warm fronts?

Triangles mark cold fronts and point in their direction of movement; semicircles mark warm fronts and point the same way.

How does a midlatitude cyclone commonly develop and weaken?

A disturbance can develop a wave along an air-mass boundary, forming a low-pressure center and fronts. The cold front may catch the warm front; after warm air is lifted away, the storm often weakens and dissipates.

How do winds circulate around a low-pressure center?

Winds circulate counterclockwise around a low-pressure center in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.