Air Masses & Weather Fronts

Wind is moving air. Air moves around due to heating and cooling. Cool air sinks, and warmer air rises. Once the warm air rises, it cools down and sinks again. This creates air movement, which causes wind.

Some different kinds of wind people have experienced are breezes, gusts, hurricane strength and occasionally tornado wind.

Meteorologists use different tools as well as computer models to predict the weather. These tools measure things like air pressure, wind, temperature and humidity.

We need to know about changing weather conditions, so that we can be prepared. Some weather conditions can be dangerous, such as lightning storms or tornadoes. Weather conditions also help us with everyday planning such as events outside and wearing appropriate clothing.

Humid weather is when there is a lot of moisture or water vapor in the air. You might feel sticky or sweaty when the humidity is high.

Since the temperature near the equator is hot, air masses that form there are warm. Temperatures near the poles are cold, which results in the forming of cold air masses.

An air mass is a large mass of air that has similar characteristics such as temperature and humidity.

Prevailing winds, which are winds that blow in one direction, move air masses around. These winds are caused by the uneven heating of air.

When two air masses collide, they form a weather front. Dramatic weather changes can happen such as wind, rain and thunderstorms.

Some different kinds of weather fronts are cold fronts, warm fronts, stationary fronts and occluded fronts.

When a cold front approaches, rain is likely as the cold air mass pushes the warm air mass up. As the warm air mass rises it cools down and condenses to form clouds which will likely form rain.

Meteorologists use different symbols to represent the different kinds of weather fronts. A warm front is represented with a red line and semi circles, while a cold front is represented with a blue line with triangles.