Fronts
- What is Front?

Air Masses

Air masses are huge masses of air which are warm, cold, dry or moist depending on the nature of the land or sea they pass over. They cover vast areas, some of them are about 1,000,000 square km, nearly the same size as Egypt. Air masses move over the Earth's surface and help spread the Sun's heat around the world.

They are classified according to the area they originally came from, called their source.

1. Air masses which form over seas and oceans are called maritime (m) air masses.
- Tropical maritime (mT) air mass develops over warm seas. It is warm and moist.
- Polar maritime (mP) air mass forms over the sea near the poles. It is cold and moist.

>> This is a picture of a region affected by Tropical maritime.

>> This is a picture of a region affected by Polar maritime.

2. Continental ( c ) air masses form over land.
- Tropical continental (cT) air mass develops over hot, dry land. It is warm and dry.
- Polar continental (cP) air mass develops over land near the poles. It is cold and dry.

>> This is a picture of a region affected by Tropical Continental air masses

>> This is picture of a region affected by Polar Continental air masses.

Fronts

Fronts

Boundaries between air masses are called fronts. Near fronts the weather can be very unsettled, with rain and clouds. Some cold fronts cause lines of violent storms. The three types of fronts are warm, cold and occluded.

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