MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in

changes in weather conditions.

Guiding Questions

How do global patterns, such as the jet stream, affect air masses?

How do air masses interact to form fronts?

How do the interactions of air masses result in changes in weather?

Vocabulary

air mass

jet stream

front

cyclone

anticyclone

Major Air Masses

Look outside your window. What is the weather like where you are today? The weather you see is happening due to
the influence of air masses. An air mass is a huge body of air that has similar temperature, humidity, and air pressure
at any given height. Scientists classify air masses based on temperature and humidity.

The characteristics of an air mass depend on the temperature and moisture content of the region over which the air
mass forms. Whether an air mass is humid or dry depends on whether it forms over water or dry land. For example,
an air mass that forms above the ocean in Figure 1 would have different characteristics than an air mass that forms
over a desert.

How Air Masses Move Air masses are always on the move. In the continental United States, air masses are commonly
moved by the prevailing westerlies and jet streams.

In general, the major wind belts over the continental United States, known as the prevailing westerlies, push air
masses from west to east. For example, cool, moist air masses from the Pacific Ocean may be blown onto the West
Coast, bringing low clouds and showers. Embedded within the prevailing westerlies are jet streams. A jet stream is a
band of high-speed winds about 6 to 14 km above Earth’s surface. As jet streams blow from west to east, the surface
air masses beneath them are carried along. The movement of these air masses, and their interactions have a great
impact on weather.

Types of Air Masses Is it often windy or rainy where you live? Your local weather, and all the weather in North
America, is influenced by one of four major types of air masses: maritime tropical, continental tropical, maritime
polar, and continental polar. These air masses are shown in Figure 2.

Tropical, or warm, air masses form in the tropics and have low air pressure. Polar, or cold, air masses form in the high
latitudes and have high air pressure. Maritime air masses form over the ocean and are very humid. Continental air
masses have less exposure to large amounts of moisture, and are drier than maritime air masses. The high and low
temperatures in continental air masses can be more extreme than the temperatures in maritime air masses. This is
because large bodies of water moderate air temperatures.
Types of Fronts

Think about a bottle of oil and water. What happens when you shake the bottle? If you try this, you will see that the
two substances do not mix—the less-dense oil winds up floating on top of the water. Air masses of different
temperatures and humidity act the same way. Although they move across the land and frequently collide with each
other, they do not mix easily. Instead, the boundary where the air masses meet becomes a front. Storms and
changeable weather often develop along fronts like the one in Figure 3.

The weather may be different when you leave school this afternoon than it was when you arrived in the morning.
The change might be due to a front passing through your area. Colliding air masses can form four types of fronts: cold
fronts, warm fronts, stationary fronts, and occluded fronts, as shown in Figure 4. The kind of front that develops
depends on the characteristics of the air masses and the direction in which they move.

Cold Fronts A cold front forms when a cold air mass runs into a warm air mass. Because cold air is denser than warm
air, the warm air is pushed up rapidly as the colder air slides beneath it. Cold fronts can result in abrupt and
hazardous weather such as heavy rains and winds, thunderstorms, and even tornadoes. After the front passes, the
weather usually cools and the skies become clear.

Warm Fronts A warm front forms when a fast-moving warm air mass overtakes a slower-moving cold air mass.
Because the warm air mass is less dense, it rises above the cold air mass. Along the front, light rain or snow can fall if
the warm air is humid. Scattered clouds can form if the warm air mass is dry. These fronts often move slowly, so there
may be rain and clouds for a few days. The weather usually is warmer and more humid after a warm front moves by.

Occluded Fronts Sometimes, a warm air mass gets caught between two cold air masses, forming an occluded front.
Because the cooler air is denser, it moves under the warm air, causing the warm air to rise. When the two cold air
masses meet, they mix together. Air temperature drops as the warm air mass becomes occluded, or prevented from
reaching the ground. As the warm air mass rises and cools, clouds gather, and rain or snow may fall.

Stationary Fronts Sometimes cold and warm air masses meet, but neither one can move the other. This non-moving
front is called a stationary front. Where the warm and cool air meet, water vapor in the warm air condenses into rain,
snow, fog, or clouds. A stationary front may bring many days of clouds and precipitation.

READING CHECKDetermine Central Ideas What do all of these different types of fronts have in common?
Cyclones and Anticyclones

When air masses collide, they form fronts that can sometimes become distorted by surface features, such as
mountains, or by strong winds, such as the jet stream. When this happens, the air begins to swirl, causing a low-
pressure center to form. Areas of relatively low air pressure can also form in other ways.

Cyclones As shown in Figure 5, a swirling center of low air pressure can form a cyclone. As warm air at the center of a
cyclone rises, the air pressure decreases. Cooler air blows inward from nearby areas of higher air pressure. Winds
spiral inward toward the center. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis effect deflects these winds towards the
right, so the cyclone winds spin counterclockwise when viewed from above. As air rises in a cyclone, the air cools,
forming clouds and precipitation.

Anticyclones An anticyclone is the opposite of a cyclone. It is a high-pressure center of dry air, shown by an H on a
weather map. In an anticyclone, winds spiral outward from the center, moving toward areas of lower pressure. The
Coriolis effect, which is the deflection of the winds towards the right, causes the winds in an anticyclone to spin
clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. As air moves out from the center, cool air moves downward from higher in
the atmosphere. As the cool air warms up, its relative humidity drops, so no clouds form and the weather is clear and
dry.

READING CHECKRead and Comprehend How do cyclones and anticyclones differ?