1. Air Masses, Fronts & Weather Maps

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

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

8. 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

9. 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