Air Masses, Fronts and

Pressure Systems
 What is an air mass?
An air mass is a large body of air
where the TEMPERATURE and
MOISTURE content are similar
throughout.
How do air masses form?
An air mass is a large region of air with similar
temperature and moisture characteristics. Air
masses build over source regions that have
relatively similar ground surface characteristics.
Air masses that build over the land are called
continental air masses while air masses that
build over the open ocean are called maritime
air masses. Air masses cover 100s to 1000s of
kilometers of distance.
 Describe the characteristics of each
type of air mass and tell what type of
weather they will bring.

Arctic Air:
-Very COLD and DRY
-Brings very cold and windy
weather
mP Maritime Polar
-Cold and Humid
-Brings rain and snow in winter
and cool, foggy weather in
summer
cP Continental Polar
-Cold and Dry
-Brings extremely cold and dry
weather in winter, cool and
dry in summer
mT Maritime Tropical
-Warm and Humid
-Brings hot, humid weather in
the summer and mild, cloudy
weather in winter
cT Continental Tropical
-Warm and Dry
-Brings clear, dry and hot
weather
 What Causes Air Masses to
Move?
Air masses build when the air stagnates over a
region for several days/weeks. To move these huge
regions of air, the weather pattern needs to change
to allow the air mass to move. One major influence
of air mass movement is the upper level winds
associated with the jet stream. The jet stream wind
is often referred to as a steering wind. The jet
stream will help transport cold air toward lower
latitudes and warm air toward high latitudes.
 How do air masses
change?
Air masses modify once they move out of their
source region. For example, a cold air mass will
modify (warm up in this case) as it moves over
warmer land in lower latitudes. The more intense
sunlight in the lower latitudes also helps modify the
cold air.
 Moisture Content and Humidity
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the
air. The airs ability to hold water vapor
changes as the temperature of the air
changes. Warm air can hold more moisture
than cold air.
Relative humidity is the ratio of the amount of
water vapor in the air to the maximum
amount of water vapor the air can hold at a
set temperature. It is given as a percentage.
 Factors affecting Humidity
Two factors that affect relative humidity are
amount of water vapor and temperature. The
more water vapor there is in the air, the
higher the relative humidity is.
If the amount of water vapor in the air stays
the same but the temperature changes,
relative humidity decreases as the
temperature rises and increases as the
temperature drops.
 Dew Point
The dew point is the temperature at which a gas
condenses into a liquid. At its dew point, air is
saturated, or holding all of the water that it can
at the given temperature.
If the relative humidity is high, then the dew
point is high. If the relative humidity is low, then
the dew point is low.
Dew point is related to air masses because it
determines when clouds will form and when
precipitation will occur.
 What is a front?
The area (boundary) where two
types of air masses meet.
 Weather Fronts and Changes in
Weather
When two air masses with different
temperatures and densities meet, the
warmer, less dense air will be pushed upward.
Since cool air cant hold as much moisture as
warm air, clouds form and precipitation can
occur. The advancing air mass will be followed
by changes in temperature and humidity.
COLD FRONT
What type of weather to expect:
Cold Front: Brings
thunderstorms, heavy rain or
snow. Cooler weather follows a
cold front.
WARM FRONT
Warm Front: Brings drizzly rain
and are followed by clear,
warmer weather
OCCLUDED FRONT
Occluded Front: Brings cooler
temperatures and large amounts
of rain or snow.
 STATIONARY FRONT
(neither air mass is moving)
Stationary Front: Brings many
days of cloudy, rainy weather
Pressure Systems
 What is Air Pressure?
Air Pressure is the measure of the force with which
air molecules push on a surface. Air will either rise or
sink near the Earths surface.

As air is heated, molecules speed up and spread out,

making warm air less dense. Less dense air rises.
*Since warm air is less dense, it has a lower air pressure.
As air is cooled, molecules slow down and move closer
together, making cold air more dense. More dense air
sinks.
*Since cold air is more dense, it has a higher air pressure.
 Low Pressure vs. High Pressure
Air ALWAYS
moves from areas
of high pressure
to areas of low
pressure.
Sinking and rising
air with the
Coriolis Effect
results in rotating
high and low
pressure systems.
 Low Pressure Systems
As air is heated, molecules speed
up and spread out, making warm
air less dense. Less dense air
rises.
Air rises, and air coming in from
the outside spirals inward
toward the center and continues
up.
Air rises, cools, and condenses
into clouds, often followed by
precipitation.
 High Pressure Systems
As air is cooled, molecules slow
down and move closer together,
making cold air more dense.
More dense air sinks.
Sinking air moves away from the
center when it reaches the
Earths surface.
High pressure systems are
usually associated with fair
weather.
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