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Air Masses

Air Masses . What is an air mass?. An Air Mass is defined as a body of air with uniform temperature and moisture characteristics Air masses take on the qualities of the areas where they were formed. They are huge! . Air masses are classified according to:. Temperature and Moisture .

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Air Masses

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  1. Air Masses

  2. What is an air mass? • An Air Mass is defined as a body of air with uniform temperature and moisture characteristics • Air masses take on the qualities of the areas where they were formed. • They are huge!

  3. Air masses are classified according to: • Temperature and • Moisture

  4. Air masses according to temperature • POLAR air masses are cold • TROPICAL air masses are warm

  5. Air masses according to moisture • maritime are moist(air masses that form over water) • continental are dry(air masses that form over land)

  6. Sooo…we have: • POLAR and TROPICAL maritime and continental Air masses

  7. Therefore… • We are able to describe the moisture and temperature characteristics of an air mass using a combination of the letters c, m, TandP.

  8. The four air masses we will study are: • cP – continentalPolar • mT – maritime Tropical • cT- continentalTropical • mP – maritimePolar • Describe the characteristics of each!

  9. MC p.139, #11 • Use Fig 12-7 on p. 131 in your textbook to complete the diagram on your handout.

  10. Characteristics: • cP- dry and cold • mT- moist and warm • cT- dry and warm • mP- moist and cold

  11. North America • The strongly contrasting cP and mT air masses flow out of their sources in the Arctic (cP) and tropical (mT) latitudes ….then collide over the central part of the North American continent (the mid-latitudes)…..in the westerly windbelt. • The repeated collisions of these very different air masses with their associated low pressure centres and fronts (cold and warm), dominate the weather pattern of North America!

  12. North American Air Masses Fill in your map of North America.

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