What are the 2 things that move air masses?
Winds and air currents cause air masses to move. Moving air masses cause changes in the weather. A front forms at the boundary between two air masses. Types of fronts include cold, warm, occluded, and stationary fronts.
What are the two air masses which move across North America?
The air masses in and around North America include the continental arctic (cA), maritime polar (mP), maritime tropical (mT), continental tropical (cT), and continental polar (cP) air masses.
What two air masses affect the US?
Five air masses affect the United States during the course of a typical year: continental polar, continental arctic, continental tropical, maritime polar, and maritime tropical. Continental air masses are characterized by dry air near the surface while maritime air masses are moist.
What moves the air masses in the continental United States?
Cold air masses tend to move toward the equator. Warm air masses tend to move toward the poles. The Coriolis effect causes them to move on a diagonal. Many air masses move toward the northeast over the U.S. This is the same direction that global winds blow.
What are air mass movements?
. The Movement of Air Masses transporting warm air northward and colder air southward. Counterclockwise winds associated with cyclones transport heat and moisture from lower to higher latitudes and play a significant role in the movement of air masses.
What two air masses are most important in North American weather?
Four major types of air masses influence the weather in North America: Maritime Tropical (mT) Maritime Polar (mP) Continental Tropical (cT)
What two air masses are most important in North America weather?
There are 4 types of the air masses that influence the weather in North America: Continental Polar, Continental Tropical, Maritime Polar and Maritime Tropical. Continental Polar and Maritime Tropical influence the weather in North America most especially east of the Rocky Mountains.
How do air masses move?
The Movement of Air Masses: transporting warm air northward and colder air southward. Counterclockwise winds associated with cyclones transport heat and moisture from lower to higher latitudes and play a significant role in the movement of air masses. A warm front marks the leading edge of this warm, moist air mass.
What happens when two air masses meet?
When two different air masses come into contact, they don’t mix. They push against each other along a line called a front. When a warm air mass meets a cold air mass, the warm air rises since it is lighter. At high altitude it cools, and the water vapor it contains condenses.
What are the 4 types of air masses in the United States?
Four major types of air masses influence the weather in North America: maritime tropical, continental tropical, maritime polar, and continental polar.
What is the place where two different air masses meet?
weather front
When two air masses meet together, the boundary between the two is called a weather front. At a front, the two air masses have different densities, based on temperature, and do not easily mix.
What contributes to movement of air masses?
One major influence of air mass movement is the upper level winds such as the upper level winds associated with the jet stream. The jet stream wind is often referred to as a steering wind. The troughs and ridges of the jet stream will help transport cold air toward lower latitudes and warm air toward high latitudes.