Air Masses, Fronts & Weather Maps

Weather vs Climate Weather - Daily Conditions of a given location (Short Term) Ex: Rainy, Cloudy, Sunny, Sleet Climate - Conditions over a long period of time (season to season & year to year) Ex: Tropical Climate – Hot & Humid Ex: Polar Climate – Cold & Snowy

The uneven heating of the Earth’s surface by the SUN is the cause of weather Local weather changes are cause by the movement of air masses

Air Masses: a large section of air that has the same type of weather throughout (Same Temperature and Same Humidity) The weather of an air mass is determined by where it is formed Air masses that form over land are dry Air masses that form over water are humid Air masses that form over warm areas are warn Air masses that form over cold areas are cold

Air Masses: Abbreviations maritime – wet develop over water continental – dry develop over land Polar – Cold develop in cold areas Tropical – Warm develop in warm areas maritime Tropical (mT) wet & warm maritime Polar (mP) wet & cold continental Tropical (cT) dry & warm continental Polar (cP) dry & cold

Cold & Warm Fronts Cold Front – Dry Cold Air Blue Pointy Teeth Warm Front – Moist Warm Air Red Rounded Teeth

Important Facts: Fronts are the boundaries between air masses. Bring RAIN! Showers or Thunderstorms always associated with Fronts (cold & warm) Air masses located behind front lines Weather moves West to East & Northeast

Air Pressure Systems High Pressure System: (H) Happy Weather =) cold & dry Low Pressure System: (L) Lousy Weather =( warm & wet As altitude increases, air pressure decreases