CLIMATOLOGY CLASS 3

CLIMATOLOGY - 3
AIR MASS
 When air remains over a homogenous area for a sufficiently

longer time, it acquires the characteristics of the area.
 The air with distinctive characteristics in terms of temperature
and humidity is called an air mass.
 It is defined as a large body of air having little horizontal
variation in temperature and moisture.
SOURCE REGIONS – AIR MASS
1. Warm tropical and subtropical oceans (warm and moist

air masses)
2. The subtropical hot deserts (hot & dry air masses)
3. The relatively cold high latitude oceans (cool and moist
air masses)
4. The very cold snow-covered continents in high latitudes
(cold and dry air masses)
5. Permanently ice-covered continents in the Arctic and
Antarctica (cold and dry air masses).
TYPES OF AIRMASSES
 Maritime tropical (mT)

 Continental tropical (cT)
 Maritime polar (mP)
 Continental polar (cP)
 Continental arctic (cA)
 Where ‘m’ stands for Maritime; ‘c’ stands for

continental; ‘T’ stands for tropical; ‘P’ stands for polar
and ‘A’ stands for arctic region.
CLIMATIC SIGNIFICANCE OF AIR MASSES
 Cause precipitation: Ex. maritime-tropical airmass over

Atlantic Ocean causes precipitation east of Rocky
Mountains.
 Modify temperature: Airmasses developed over North
Atlantic brings moderating effect on NW coast of Europe.
 Modify Weather: They modify the weather of regions
where they visit. Ex. cP airmass produces ‘lake snow’
effect at the shores of great lakes in North America.
 Cyclones& anti-cyclones: Convergence of opposite air
masses create fronts and lead to temperate cyclones.
 Droughts:
Hot dry airmass can increase the evaporation
and lead to drought situation.
FRONT
 Front is a three dimensional boundary zone between two converging
air masses with contrasting physical properties like temperature,
humidity etc.
 Formation: Commonly formed in the middle and higher
latitudes (40°- 65° latitudes) where warm and moist subtropical air
masses come in contact with cold and dry polar air masses.
 Frontogenesis: Process of formation of a front is known
as Frontogenesis and it involves convergence of two distinct air
masses.
 Fronotolysis: Dissipation/ weakening of the front is known
as Frontolysis where one of the air masses overrides another.
 In the northern hemisphere, Frontogenesis happens in
an anticlockwise direction (clockwise in the southern hemisphere)
due to the Coriolis Effect.
 It is the reason for the formation of temperate cyclones in mid-
 WARM FRONT:
 When a warmer and lighter air mass moves against an
existing cold and dense airmass, it rises over the colder
and denser air mass. This type of front is known as warm
front.
 COLD FRONT:
 When a cold and dense airmass forces its way under
warm and lighter airmass it makes the warm and lighter
airmass to ride over it. This type of front is called cold
front.
STATIONARY FRONT
SATIONARY FRONT
A stationary front forms when a cold front or warm

front stops moving. This happens when two masses
of air are pushing against each other but neither is
powerful enough to move the other.
 Windsblowing parallel to the front instead of
perpendicular can help it stay in place.
OCCLUDED FRONT
 When warm air mass is completely raised over the

cold air mass it is called an occluded front.
 Weather along this sector is complex—a mixture of
cold front type and warm front type weather. These
are common in western Europe.
 Theformation of Mid-latitude cyclones (temperate
cyclones or extra-tropical cyclones) involves the
formation of an occluded front.
TROPICAL CYCLONE
 Tropical Cyclone is a weather phenomenon.

 A tropical cyclone is formed only over warm ocean waters
near the equator.
 Warm, moist air rises up and away from the ocean surface,
creating an area of low pressure.
 It causes the air from surrounding areas with higher pressure to
move towards the low-pressure area.
 This leads to warming up of air and causes it to rise above.
 As the air rises & cools, the water in the air forms clouds.
 This complete system of clouds and wind spins & grows, along
with the ocean’s heat.
 As the wind rotation speed increases, an eye gets formed in
the middle.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A TROPICAL CYCLONE
 Thecentre of a cyclone is very calm and clear with very

low air pressure.
 The average speed is 120 kmph.
 Theyhave closed isobars which leads to greater
velocity.
 Isobars
are imaginary lines on a weather map that
connect locations with equal atmospheric pressure.
 They develop over oceans and sea only.
 Theymove from east to west under the influence of
trade winds.
 They are seasonal in nature.
 Early Stage: water vapour and heat are transferred from the warm
ocean to the air above, leading to the formation of vertical cumulus
clouds through convection and condensation.
 Mature Stage: As the tropical storm intensifies, vigorous thunderstorms
cause the air to rise and spread out horizontally at the tropopause
level. This results in positive pressure at higher levels, which
accelerates the downward motion of air due to convection.
 The warm “Eye,” a low-pressure center, is formed during this mature
stage.
 Final stage: Eventually, a tropical cyclone begins to weaken as its
source of warm moist air diminishes, such as when it makes landfall or
passes over cold waters. This leads to a decline in central low
pressure, internal warmth, and high speeds
 They are also known as temperate cyclones, middle-
latitude cyclones, frontal cyclones, or wave
cyclones.
 While temperate cyclones originate in the Polar
Regions, they affect temperate zones and high-
latitude regions.
EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONES
FORMATION OF EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONES
 The formation of extra tropical cyclones can be explained through

the Polar Front theory. This theory highlights the interaction between
warm, moist air masses from the tropics and cold, dry air masses from
the poles. The collision of these contrasting air masses leads to the
creation of a polar front, where the denser cold air forces the warm
air to rise.
 This process generates instability and results in the development of a
low-pressure area at the center of this air mass interaction.
 As a consequence of the reduced pressure, air from the surrounding
areas moves in to fill the void, forming a cyclonic circulation.

CLIMATOLOGY CLASS 3

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CLIMATOLOGY CLASS 3

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CLIMATOLOGY - 3

 When air remains over a homogenous area for a sufficiently

1. Warm tropical and subtropical oceans (warm and moist

 Maritime tropical (mT)

 Where ‘m’ stands for Maritime; ‘c’ stands for

 Cause precipitation: Ex. maritime-tropical airmass over

A stationary front forms when a cold front or warm

 When warm air mass is completely raised over the

 Tropical Cyclone is a weather phenomenon.

 Thecentre of a cyclone is very calm and clear with very

 The formation of extra tropical cyclones can be explained through

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