What happens when a cold front and a warm front meet?

What happens when a cold front and a warm front meet?

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. As it rises, the warm air cools rapidly. This configuration, called a cold front, gives rise to cumulonimbus clouds, often associated with heavy precipitation and storms.

Which type of front forms when a cold front overtakes and forces a warm front upwards?

occluded front
When a cold front overtakes a warm front, it creates what’s called an occluded front that forces warm air above a frontal boundary of cooler air masses.

What type of front moves into an area and slowly pushes the other air out while creating flat clouds?

Warm fronts move more slowly and are less violent than cold fronts. Cirrus clouds and alto cumulus, along with fog, often precede warm fronts as they move through an area. The milder weather that follows will be warmer in temperature.

What happens when a high pressure meets a low pressure?

These areas are called low pressure systems. Places where the air pressure is high, are called high pressure systems. Winds blow towards the low pressure, and the air rises in the atmosphere where they meet. As the air rises, the water vapor within it condenses, forming clouds and often precipitation.

What happens when fronts collide?

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. One air mass is lifted above the other, creating a low pressure zone.

When a cold front overtakes a warm front and forces it up?

An occluded front is a combination of two fronts that form when a cold front catches up and overtakes a warm front.

What is warm front and cold front?

A cold weather front is defined as the changeover region where a cold air mass is replacing a warmer air mass. Cold weather fronts usually move from northwest to southeast. A warm weather front is defined as the changeover region where a warm air mass is replacing a cold air mass.

What is a cold and warm front?

A cold weather front is defined as the changeover region where a cold air mass is replacing a warmer air mass. Cold weather fronts usually move from northwest to southeast. A warm weather front is defined as the changeover region where a warm air mass is replacing a cold air mass. …

Which front moves the fastest?

Cold fronts
Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts because cold air is denser, meaning there are more molecules of material in cold air than in warm air.

What causes areas of high and low pressure?

Areas of high and low pressure are caused by ascending and descending air. As air warms it ascends, leading to low pressure at the surface. As air cools it descends, leading to high pressure at the surface.

What causes low pressure air masses?

Low pressure areas form when atmospheric circulations of air up and down remove a small amount of atmosphere from a region. This usually happens along the boundary between warm and cold air masses by air flows “trying” to reduce that temperature contrast.

What type of clouds form at warm fronts?

As a warm front approaches, cirrus clouds tend to thicken into cirrostratus, which may, in turn, thicken and lower into altostratus, stratus, and even nimbostratus. Finally, cirrocumulus clouds are layered clouds permeated with small cumuliform lumpiness.

What does it mean when a cold front overtakes a warm front?

Because cold fronts move faster, the cold front is likely to overtake the warm front. This is known as an occluded front. At an occluded front, the cold air mass from the cold front meets the cool air that was ahead of the warm front.

How is an occluded front represented on a weather map?

An occluded front is represented on a weather map by a purple line with alternating triangles and semicircles. Sometimes a cold front follows right behind a warm front. A warm air mass pushes into a colder air mass (the warm front), and then another cold air mass pushes into the warm air mass (the cold front).

Where do warm fronts form in a low pressure system?

Warm fronts often form on the east side of low-pressure systems where warmer air from the south is pushed north. You will often see high clouds like cirrus, cirrostratus, and middle clouds like altostratus ahead of a warm front. These clouds form in the warm air that is high above the cool air.

What are the different types of weather fronts?

There are four different types of weather fronts: cold fronts, warm fronts, stationary fronts, and occluded fronts.