LAB 6 - ATMOSPHERE AND CLIMATE LAB:AIR

MASSES, FRONTS AND STORMS

Part I.
A. Are air masses formed in regions experiencing high pressure or low pressure? Why?
Air pressure varies from place to place. It is colder in areas like the poles. Because of cold air
mass and moisture condenses it become dense and has more pressure. In warm places like the
continents, air pressure is less because of temperature and hotter climate. Typically the equator
area has warm and dry climate and low pressure. The north and south poles areas have very cold
climate so the air is dense and exerts more pressure. The high pressure area cold climate
conditions migrate to low pressure area and warm climate and bring cold climate to warm and
low pressure area.

B. Describe the five types of air masses and where each might originate. Use North America
as the geographic reference. Be specific.

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cP:This is a bitter cold winter time in the southern US and Florida which causes damage of

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crops. It has stable air mass with moisture and dry air.

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mP: It is winter and air moves over the northeast Pacific with warmth and moisture from the
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ocean. The air rises in the Pacific northwest mountains and air rises resulting in rain.

cT: It is in the Mexican Plateau, usually a continental tropical summer warm air. It is stable
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and dry and becomes stagnant which results in drought.

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mT: It brings winter in the southwest US and east Pacific ocean influences the Rocky
Mountains. It comes from the Gulf of Mexico. It is a slow moving weather system.

cA or A: It is a cold and dry continental Arctic air formed over the Arctic Basin and the
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Greenlands. It has colder temperatures and has wintertime air mass.

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C. Which three air masses influence weather in Arizona, and during what seasons?
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Summer: cT, mT
Winter: mP
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D. Diagram (side view) both a cold and warm front.

Cold Front Warm Front

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E. What happens to atmospheric pressure, air temperature, dew point, wind and precipitation as

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a cold front passes? Comment on conditions before passage and after passage.

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During passage…

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Pressure- Bottoms out, then rise rapidly
Temperature- Suddenly cooler rs e
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Dew point- Rapidly dropping
Wind- Variable/gusty
Precipitation- Heavy showers with possible hail/lightning
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Conditions before include showers, fair/hazy visibility, wind parallel to front, warm
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temperature, high dew point, and falling pressure. After passage the showers slowly
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decrease, visibility gets better, wind becomes perpendicular to the front, temperatures
continue to cool, dew point continues to drop, and pressure rises.
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F. How does cold front precipitation differ from warm front precipitation?
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Cold front precipitation produce sharper weather changes and moves up faster than
warm fronts. Warm fronts move slower, which results in temperature differences across.
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Part II. Frontal Systems and Surface Analysis of Weather Maps

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Barometric pressure is coded such that you must add a “9” or “10” in front of the numbers (040)
and a decimal between the last two digits. A good rule: if the number is less than 500, add a
“10”, and greater than 500, add a “9”. In our example: 40 = 1004.0 mb

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Decode the following two station models.
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Temperature = 84ºF
Dew point = 45ºF
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Pressure = 993.5 mb
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Present Weather = Light Rain

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Wind direction = 135º

Wind speed = 15-20mph
Sky covered by clouds = 75%- broken
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Pressure change last 3 hours = .8 mb

Pressure tendency last 3 hours = steady then
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rising

Temperature = 57ºF
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Dew point = 57ºF

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Pressure = 1012.5 mb
Present Weather = Fog
Wind direction = 135º
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Wind speed = 3-8 mph

Sky covered by clouds = vision obscured
Pressure change last 3 hours = 1.4 mb
Pressure tendency last 3 hours = rising

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In the box on the right, create a station model using the weather information below. Be sure to
use the proper symbols and format. Remember, units are not plotted on the station model.

Temperature = 15°F
Dew point = 9°F
Pressure = 1006.7 mb
Present Weather = snow showers
Wind direction = NW
Wind speed = 10 knots
Sky covered by clouds = 10/10 or overcast
Pressure change last 3 hours = 1.2 mb drop last 3 hours
Pressure tendency last 3 hours = dropping then steady

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Using the map provided (Figure I-1 on page I-5), perform a surface analysis.

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Use the following steps to complete the analysis…be careful and neat…

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1. Decode pressures by putting a “9” or “10” in front (normally, this is not done)
2. Draw in the isobars using a 4 mb interval, e.g., 996mb, 1000mb, 1004 mb, etc. Label
all of the isobars clearly with values but no units! (no mb after the number)
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3. Place an "L" in the center of the low pressure cell.

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4. Locate and draw in the cold front and the warm front.
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5. Shade in the areas of precipitation associated with both fronts.

If you have colored pencils…

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Isobars = black
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Low “L” = red

High “H” = blue (not on this map)
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Cold front = blue

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Warm front = red

Occluded front = purple
Precipitation = green shading
Fog = yellow shading
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Note: not all items will be on this map

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 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY GPH111

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996

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1000

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H 1004
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1008
1012
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Figure I-1: Map for surface analysis

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A. What is the general trend of air movement around a low pressure cell in the Northern
Hemisphere? What evidence supports this observation? Use three fairly large arrows
to diagram this cyclonic movement of air on the weather map you just analyzed. They
rotate counter-clockwise. The evidence that supports this is where air generally
flows is from the center outward. So the Coriolis force given by the Earth’s
rotation to the air circulation is in the opposite direction of Earth’s apparent
rotation if viewed from that hemisphere’s pole.

B. What is the general trend of air movement around a high pressure cell in the Northern
Hemisphere? They rotate clockwise.

C. You are now a weather forecaster. Using figure I-1, describe the weather changes expected
for Little Rock, AR (temperature, dew point, wind direction, pressure, precipitation) with the
passing of the front. The temperature is 67ºF. Dew point is 61ºF. Wind direction is 202.5.

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Pressure is 912.7 mb. Precipitation is light rain/

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D. On Figure I-2 (below), draw in a midlatitude cyclone as it moves across the country. Using
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the cyclone for Feb 21 as a model, draw in the cyclone and the position of its fronts for Feb
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22, Feb 23 and Feb 24.
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Figure I-2: United States, Midlatitude Cyclone 21-24 February

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