What happens when a warm air mass moves into a cold air mass?

What happens when a warm air mass moves into a cold air mass?

When a warm air mass meets a cold air mass, the warm air rises since it is lighter. As it rises, the warm air cools rapidly. This configuration, called a cold front, gives rise to cumulonimbus clouds, often associated with heavy precipitation and storms.

What is a warm air mass approaching a cold air mass?

Warm Fronts At a warm front, a warm air mass slides over a cold air mass (Figure below). High cirrus clouds mark the transition from one air mass to the other. Over time, cirrus clouds become thicker and cirrostratus clouds form. As the front approaches, altocumulus and altostratus clouds appear and the sky turns gray.

What is it called when warm air mass catches up to a cold air mass and moves over it?

When a warm air mass meets and overrides a cold air mass, a warm front forms. The warm air moves up and over the cold and generally brings drizzly precipitation. If a fast-moving cold air mass overtakes a slower-moving warm front and then continues advancing and catches another cold front, an occluded front forms.

What is a front named after?

front, in meteorology, interface or transition zone between two air masses of different density and temperature; the sporadic flareups of weather along this zone, with occasional thunderstorms and electrical activity, was, to the Norwegian meteorologists who gave it its name during World War I, analogous to the …

What happens when warm and cold air masses move?

The leading edge of a warm air mass advancing into a region occupied by a cold air mass is called a warm front. A cold front occurs when a cold air mass advances into a region occupied by a warm air mass. If the boundary between the cold and warm air masses doesn’t move, it is called a stationary front.

What are cold and dry air masses called?

Cold and dry air masses that originate over landmass are called continental polar mass. Cold and moist air masses that originate over water are called maritime polar mass. Warm and dry air mass originating over land mass 2. Front: It is a boundary between two air masses.

What is the boundary between two air masses called?

If the boundary between the cold and warm air masses doesn’t move, it is called a stationary front. The boundary where a cold air mass meets a cool air mass under a warm air mass is called an occluded front.

How are air masses transformed into another air mass?

An air mass which moves into the source region of another airmass type, and stagnates, is transformed into that type of air mass. Air masses are modified in several ways. For the most part, these are processes which we have already considered in detail. Several of the processes usually take place concurrently: