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Topic 8: Air masses and fronts

Please note: the questions listed are not the only items that you need to know. The questions point out basic information to help understand some topics, some concepts that may not be obvious to all students, and some of the more difficult concepts.

Air Masses  

  • Describe an air mass. Why should we care about air masses?

  • What are the main characteristics of air masses?

  • Describe each of the 4 primary air mass types, focusing on the types that affect us. Discuss area of origin, and how and when they primarily affect us in Minnesota.

  • What do we mean when we say that air masses are moderated over time?

Fronts    

  • What is the general definition of a front? How do fronts affect the weather?

  • Describe the 3-dimensional nature of a front.

  • Describe what we mean when we say that a front is an area of lower pressure. Describe convergence at a front.

  • Describe the general characteristics of a front.

  • How do we determine whether a frontal boundary is a cold front, a warm front, or a stationary front?

  • Animation of cold front

  • Imagine a cold front and three cities: one on the warm side, one on the cold side, and one on the front. Describe the weather for each of these cities.

  • Now start with the city on the warm side. Describe how the weather would change over the next 24 hours.

  • Video--cold front time-lapse

  • Imagine a warm front and three cities: one on the warm side, one on the cold side, and one on the front. Describe the weather for each of these cities.

  • Now start with the city on the cold side. Describe how the weather would change over the next 24 hours.

  • Compare when the weather changes at the surface for a cold front and a warm front.

  • Describe and compare the 3-dimensional frontal boundaries at a cold front and a warm front.

  • Describe the different weather possibilities at a stationary front

  • Describe an occluded front.

  • Describe overrunning.

  • Briefly describe an occluded front. What does an occluded front tell us about the system?

  • Describe a trough. Why isn’t a trough a front? What usually happens to troughs?

  • Study help--Air masses and fronts

 


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