1 / 19

Air Masses, Fronts, and Storms

Air Masses, Fronts, and Storms. Prof. John Toohey-Morales, CCM St. Thomas University Miami Gardens, Florida. Air Mass Classification. Air mass is an extremely large body of air whose properties of temperature and humidity are fairly similar

noe
Download Presentation

Air Masses, Fronts, and Storms

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Air Masses, Fronts, and Storms Prof. John Toohey-Morales, CCM St. Thomas University Miami Gardens, Florida

  2. Air Mass Classification • Air mass is an extremely large body of air whose properties of temperature and humidity are fairly similar • Classified according to their temperature and humidity

  3. Air Mass Classification • Polar (P) masses originate in polar latitudes • Tropical (T) masses originate in warm tropical regions • Continental (c) masses originate over land • Maritime (m) air masses form over water

  4. Air Mass Behavior • Continental Polar (cP)

  5. Air Mass Behavior • Maritime Polar (mP)

  6. Air Mass Behavior • Maritime Tropical (mT)

  7. Air Mass Behavior • Maritime Tropical (mT)

  8. Air Mass Behavior • Continental Tropical (cT)

  9. Fronts • A transition zone between air masses with different densities, usually separating air masses with contrasting temperatures • Stationary fronts have almost no movement

  10. Finding Fronts • Sharp temperature changes over a relatively short distance • Changes in air moisture content • Shifting winds • Pressure changes • Cloud and precipitation patterns

  11. Go to Visualization Cold Fronts • Has cold, dry polar air replacing warm, moist air • Most move towards the south, southeast or east

  12. Go to Visualization Warm Fronts • Warm, moist air replacing retreating cold air

  13. Go to Visualization Occluded Fronts • Cold front catches up and overtakes the warm front • Most prevalent type of front that moves into the west coast of the U.S.

  14. Go to Visualization Cyclogenesis • Mid latitude cyclones form outside the tropics at mid and high latitudes • In Polar Front Theory, storms form along the polar front • Frontal Wave • Open Wave • Occlusion

  15. Mid Latitude Cyclones

  16. Upper Level Support • Upper level divergence must be greater than the surface convergence for lows to develop and strengthen (need an upper level trough to the west of the surface low) • This leads to a drop in surface pressure and intensification

  17. Upper Level Support (contd.) • Upper level convergence leads to filling of surface lows or building highs (upper trough to the east) • Upper level winds steer the storms

  18. Go to Visualization Upper Level Support (visual)

  19. Go to Visualization Upper Level Support (visual)

More Related