A cold weather front
is defined as the changeover region where a cold air mass is replacing a warmer air mass. Cold weather fronts usually move from northwest to southeast. The air behind a cold front is colder and drier than the air in front.
What is it called when a cold air mass takes over a warm air mass?
Occluded Front
A warm air mass pushes into a colder air mass (the warm front), and then another cold air mass pushes into the warm air mass (the cold front). Because cold fronts move faster, the cold front is likely to overtake the warm front. This is known as an occluded front.
When a cold air mass replaces a warm air mass?
A cold front
is defined as the transition zone where a cold air mass is replacing a warmer air mass. Cold fronts generally move from northwest to southeast. The air behind a cold front is noticeably colder and drier than the air ahead of it.
What is a cold air mass called?
Colder air masses are termed
polar or arctic
, while warmer air masses are deemed tropical. Continental and superior air masses are dry while maritime and monsoon air masses are moist.
What does a cold air mass do to a warm air mass?
This is shown in Figure above. The cold air mass
moves faster than the warm air mass and lifts the warm air mass out of its way
. As the warm air rises, its water vapor condenses. Clouds form, and precipitation falls.
What is a fast moving warm air mass overtakes a slower moving cold air mass?
Cold front
: a fast-moving cold air mass overtakes a warm air mass; the warm air is pushed upward. Warm front: a warm air mass overtakes a slow-moving cold air mass; warm air moves over the cold air.
What kind of density do warm air and cold air masses have?
How does density relate to cold and warm air masses?
Warm is less dense and cold air is more dense
.
What will happen when a fast moving cold air mass runs into an existing warm air mass?
A cold front forms
when a cold air mass runs into a warm air mass (Figure below). The cold air mass moves faster than the warm air mass. … As the warm air rises, its water vapor condenses. Clouds form, and precipitation falls.
What is a warm air mass?
[′wȯrm ¦er ′mas] (meteorology)
An air mass that is warmer than the surrounding air
; an implication that the air mass is warmer than the surface over which it is moving.
What happens when a warm air mass slowly passes over a cold air mass?
Air masses are slowly pushed along by high-level winds. When an air mass moves over a new region, it shares its temperature and humidity with that region. … For example, when a colder air mass moves over warmer ground,
the bottom layer of air is heated
. That air rises, forming clouds, rain, and sometimes thunderstorms.
What are the 4 types of air masses?
There are four categories for air masses:
arctic, tropical, polar and equatorial
. Arctic air masses form in the Arctic region and are very cold. Tropical air masses form in low-latitude areas and are moderately warm. Polar air masses take shape in high-latitude regions and are cold.
What are the 5 types of air masses?
The air masses in and around North America include the
continental arctic (cA), maritime polar (mP), maritime tropical (mT), continental tropical (cT), and continental polar (cP) air masses
.
What happens when an air mass is heated?
As the molecules heat and move faster, they are moving apart. So air, like most other substances,
expands when heated and contracts when cooled
. Because there is more space between the molecules, the air is less dense than the surrounding matter and the hot air floats upward.
What causes cold air masses?
When a warmer air mass travels over colder ground, the bottom layer of air cools and, because of its high density, is trapped near the ground. In general, cold air masses tend to
flow toward the equator
and warm air masses tend to flow toward the poles. This brings heat to cold areas and cools down areas that are warm.
Where do warm moist air masses form?
Warm air masses usually form in
tropical or subtropical regions
and are called tropical air masses. Moist air masses form over oceans and are referred to as maritime air masses.
What causes air masses to rise?
Air masses build
when the air stagnates over a region for several days/weeks
. To move these huge regions of air, the weather pattern needs to change to allow the air mass to move. One major influence of air mass movement is the upper level winds such as the upper level winds associated with the jet stream.
