Meteorology

5.06 Turbulence, Visibility, and Fronts

References:
Air Command Weather Manual Chapters 7, 8, 10 and 11
FTGU pages 133, 138, 140-145, 147, 155 and 156
Aviation Weather Student Guide
http://www.tpub.com/content/aviation2/P-303/index.htm
 5.06 Turbulence, Visibility, and Fronts

• MTPs:
– Types of Turbulence
– Wind Shear
– Visibility Obstructions
– Definition of a Front
– Front Formation
– Warm Front
– Cold Front
– Fronts on Maps
 Types of Turbulence
1. Convection
Turbulence
Thermal Turbulence
• Hot sunny days - sun heats the
earth’s surface unevenly

Isolated
convection
currents cause
turbulence
 Types of Turbulence
2. Mechanical
Turbulence

Also known as “eddies”

• Friction between air and ground
• Irregular terrain and man-made
obstacles cause severe eddies.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vQHXIHpvcvU
 Types of Turbulence
3. Orographic turbulence
• Known as mountain wave
• Can be expected on the
windward side and over the
crests of mountains, along
the downward slope

Avoid rotor cloud and

strong downdraft on the
leeward side of mountain
 Wind Shear
4. Wind Shear
• Any marked change in wind speed and
direction with height that produces local areas
of turbulence
• When changes are large, quite
severe turbulence can be expected
• Low level wind shear occurs as a
result of gust fronts and downbursts
– Associated with thunderstorms
 Wind Shear
Inversions
• Overnight cooling creates temperature inversion a few hundred feet
above ground that can produce significant wind shear
• Can also form where cold air trapped in low lying areas (ex. valleys)
as cold air denser than warm air
– At night this air will “flow” into low lying areas
 Confirmation
1. Wind shear is a sudden change in the
wind’s ____________ and/or
___________.

2. ________________ is the condition when

the temperature increases with altitude.

3. _____________ causes turbulence due to

uneven heating of the ground.
 Visibility Obstructions

• Haze
– Very small water droplets, dust or salt particles
– Cannot be felt or individually seen with naked eye
– Uniform veil, restricts visibility
– Only a problem in stable air.
 Visibility Obstructions
• Smoke
– Created by industrial pollutants, vehicle exhaust in
urban/industrial areas – thick blanket of haze severely
restricting visibility
– Worse when flying towards the sun
– Forest fires can also contribute in more rural areas.
 Visibility Obstructions
• Smog
– Combination of smoke and fog
– Has a yellow colour to it due the pollution mixed in with it
– Often occurs with an inversion
– Type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal
combustion engines and industrial fumes
– Fumes react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary
pollutants
 Confirmation
• 1. What are some of the visibility
obstructions a pilot can face?

• 2. How is thermal turbulence created?

• 3. How is an inversion formed?

• 4. Which part of a mountain would see the

worst turbulence?
 Definition of a Front
• Definition:
– FTGU: Transition zone between two air masses
– What’s happening at a front?
• Large change of temperature within a relatively short
distance of 50-100 miles in the zone between air masses
– The interaction zone between the air masses is
responsible for weather changes

Front
 Front Formation
• Requirements:
– a cold air mass and a warm air mass lying
adjacent
– mixing action
 Front Formation
• Air Mass:
– A large section of the troposphere with uniform
properties of temperature and moisture
• May be several thousand miles across
Cold Air Masses Warm Air Mass
Instability Stability
Turbulence Smooth air
Good visibility Poor visibility
Cumuliform clouds Stratiform Clouds and Fog
Shower type precipitation Drizzle type Precipitation
Hail, Thunderstorms may
occur
 Warm Front
• A warm front is the retreating edge of a cold air mass
• Warm air advances and overruns retreating cold air
• Warm air rises since it is less dense than cold air
• Usually moves slower than a cold front
• Long gentle frontal slope.

Simulation
http://www.phschool.com/atschool/p
hsciexp/active_art/weather_fronts/
 Warm Front
Warm front weather
• Warm air mass pushes CI
CS
moisture up the slope, NS
AS
causing cloud and
precipitation SF
COLD

• Overrunning, moisture FG ST/SC

content and stability of MOIST/STABLE - SUMMER 13

11

warm air determines

severity of weather CS CI

• If the warm air is <0°C NS

AS

unstable, thunderstorms
may be embedded 0°C

>0°C
R ZR IP S <0°
<0°C

MOIST/STABLE - WINTER 12
 Warm Front

Ceiling Low ceiling can persist for long periods of time

Visibility Restricted

Begins in altostratus layer

Precipitation Becomes heavier as front approaches
Very heavy showers indicate potential thunderstorms

Turbulence Less severe than cold front (unless cumulonimbus

clouds embedded)

Cirrus, Cirrostratus, Altostratus, Nimbostratus, Stratus

Clouds
 Warm Front
• Indication of Approaching Warm Front:
– CCANS
• Cirrus
• Cirrostratus
• Altostratus
• Nimbostratus
• Stratus
 Cold Front
• A cold front is the SLOPE OF A
leading edge of an COLD FRONT
advancing cold air
1 MILE
mass
• Cold air undercuts 50 MILES

the warm air 5

• Rising warm air

expands and cools
– Cumulus cloud
 Cold Front
– Slope can be very steep
– Weather severity determined by moisture
content and stability of the warm air mass

Simulation
http://www.phschool.com/
atschool/phsciexp/active_
art/weather_fronts/
 Cold Front

Low, with clouds of vertical development, icing and

Ceiling turbulence

Visibility Good, Usually improves after the passage of the front

Precipitation Usually a narrow band

Turbulence Flight through a cold front can be expected to be rough

Cumulus, Cumulonimbus, Towering cumulus
Clouds
 Cold Front
• Temperature
– May drop sharply after front passes
– Usually drops gradually as air behind is warmed by the
ground
• Pressure
– Decrease, followed by a marked rise after frontal
passage
Warm and Cold Front
 Fronts on Maps

• Red = Warm
• Blue = Cold
 Confirmation
1. Label where the cold front and where the warm front is.
2. Label what clouds are associated with the fronts
3. Draw an arrow to show which direction the front is
moving
 Confirmation
• What weather is associated with a cold
front?

• What weather is associated with a warm

front?
Severe Frontal Weather