What are similarities and differences between cold and warm fronts?
The similarities between a warm front and a cold front are: they are both fronts, they both form some type of clouds, they both produce some type of rain, they both make some kind of weather. Cold fronts are defined by cold air advancing, sliding under and displacing warmer air – they are steeper and move more quickly.
How does the weather in cold front and the weather in a warm front differ?
Warm fronts often bring stormy weather as the warm air mass at the surface rises above the cool air mass, making clouds and storms. Warm fronts move more slowly than cold fronts because it is more difficult for the warm air to push the cold, dense air across the Earth’s surface.
How are rain patterns different near warm and cold fronts?
Rain occurs along and behind a cold front. How are rain patterns different near warm and cold fronts? Rain near a warm front occurs over a wider spatial area and is less intense than near a cold front. The type of front is determined by which air mass is moving.
Why is it useful to understand weather patterns associated with fronts?
Weather fronts do the same thing – they advance forward, creating weather changes and sometimes even violent storms along the front. Thunderstorms are common along cold fronts. This is because when a cold front occurs from a cold air mass moving into a warm air mass, the warm air is forced upward.
What factors cause weather patterns?
Weather is made up of six main components. These are temperature, atmospheric pressure, cloud formation, wind, humidity and rain. A small change to any of these conditions can create a different weather pattern.
How are warm fronts and cold fronts related?
A mass of cold air moves into an area of warmer air. The warm air cannot displace the denser cold air and gently rises over its boundary. The cold air is denser than the preceding mass of warm air and displaces it at the surface, forcing it into the atmosphere. Warm fronts are usually associated with high-pressure systems.
When does a warm front start to form?
A warm front starts to develop when a body of advancing warmer air encounters a region with colder air. Since warm air is less dense the cold air, it cannot displace it. Instead, the leading edge of warmer mass gradually rises over the boundary of the prevailing cool air.
How does cold air move into warm air?
A mass of cold air moves into an area of warmer air. The warm air cannot displace the denser cold air and gently rises over its boundary. The cold air is denser than the preceding mass of warm air and displaces it at the surface, forcing it into the atmosphere.
What happens to the atmosphere when a warm front passes?
The gentle gradient at which the air rises leads to the formation of uniform stratus clouds that are responsible for producing prolonged spells of soft precipitation. As the warm front passes, the atmospheric conditions are characterized by warmer temperatures and a rise in air pressure.