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.
What are the effects of air masses?
When winds move air masses, they carry their weather conditions (heat or cold, dry or moist) from the source region to a new region. When the air mass reaches a new region, it might clash with another air mass that has a different temperature and humidity. This can create a severe storm.
What happens to an air mass as it cools?
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.
What happens when two cold air masses meet?
When a moving cold air mass meets a warm air mass, that is lighter, it tends to wedge below the latter, thus giving origin to a cold front. The warm air is forced upwards and its ascent causes the formation of clouds .
Which term means that an air mass will be cold?
In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and water vapor content. ... 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 is the difference between an air mass and a front?
An air mass is a body of air with a relatively constant temperature and moisture content over a significant altitude. ... A front is the boundary at which two air masses of different temperature and moisture content meet.
What happens when two fronts collide?
When two air masses meet together, the boundary between the two is called a weather front . At a front, the two air masses have different densities, based on temperature, and do not easily mix. One air mass is lifted above the other, creating a low pressure zone. ... Fronts are the main cause of stormy weather.
What are the 2 most important properties of an air mass?
An air mass is a large body of air whose properties are similar. The most important properties are temperature and amount of water vapor .
What are three characteristics of air mass?
Continental air masses are characterized by dry air near the surface while maritime air masses are moist . Polar air masses are characterized by cold air near the surface while tropical air masses are warm or hot. Arctic air masses are extremely 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 causes air masses to move around?
Winds and air currents cause air masses to move. Moving air masses cause changes in the weather. A front forms at the boundary between two air masses. Types of fronts include cold, warm, occluded, and stationary fronts.
When neither air mass is advancing what is it called?
A stationary front (or quasi-stationary front) is a weather front or transition zone between two air masses, when neither air mass is advancing into the other at a speed exceeding 5 knots (about 6 miles per hour or about 9 kilometers per hour) at the ground surface.
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.
How is air mass formed?
An air mass forms whenever the atmosphere remains in contact with a large, relatively uniform land or sea surface for a time sufficiently long to acquire the temperature and moisture properties of that surface . ... The Earth’s major air masses originate in polar or subtropical latitudes.
Why do air masses form mostly in high pressure areas?
Why do air Masses Form Mostly in High Pressure Areas? High pressure areas make it stable for air masses to form . Source air contains uniform temperature and humidity.
What are the two things that we use to classify air masses?
What two characteristics are used to classify air masses? The two characteristics that are used to classify air masses, are temperature and humidity .
