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Understanding Air Masses: Formation, Characteristics, and Source Regions

Learn about air masses, large areas of air with uniform temperature and moisture, and how they form and acquire their characteristics from source regions. Explore the contrasting source regions and the modification of air masses as they interact with different surfaces. Discover the impact of air masses on weather patterns.

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Understanding Air Masses: Formation, Characteristics, and Source Regions

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  1. NATS 101Lecture 22Air Masses

  2. What is an Air Mass? • Air Mass Large area (>1600 km by 1600 km) of air that contains relatively uniform, horizontal distributions of temperature and moisture.

  3. How Air Masses Form • If surface air resides in a region for a few days, it acquires the thermal and moisture characteristics of the underlying surface. • Source regions for Air Masses are: Big in area [ >>(1600 km)2 ] Dominated by persistent high pressure and light winds

  4. Air Mass Source Regions • Contrasting source regions are Continents versus Oceans Tropics versus Poles • An Air Mass is designated in terms of itsSource Region

  5. Air Mass Characteristics Ahrens Table 8.1

  6. Air Mass Source Regions for NA Ahrens Fig 8.2

  7. Creation of cP Air Mass Williams p22

  8. Creation of cP Air Mass Williams p23

  9. Creation of mP Air Mass Lutgens & Tarbuck, p 230

  10. Lake Effect Snows Lutgens & Tarbuck, p 230 As cP air flows over the warmer, open Great Lakes, it is warmed and moistened. When the modified cP air flows onshore, prodigious snows of several feet can result.

  11. Creation of mT and cT Air Masses Williams p24

  12. Contrasting Air Masses 17 Apr 1976 Ahrens Fig 8.9

  13. Paths of cP Air Masses Ahrens Fig 8.3

  14. cP Air Mass 24 Dec 1983 Ahrens Fig 3 p203

  15. Modification of cP Air Mass cP cP warm ocean mP warm ocean mP Ahrens Fig 8.4

  16. mP Air Masses Air mass modified further as it crosses several mountain ranges of West U.S. Ahrens Fig 8.5 Ahrens Fig 8.7

  17. cT Air Mass 29-30 Jun 1990 Ahrens Fig 8.10

  18. Winter mT Pacific Air Masses mP mT “Pineapple Express” Ahrens Fig 8.8

  19. Weather Map with Air Masses Ahrens Fig 8.11

  20. Summary • Air Masses Large (>1000 miles) regions with “uniform” temperature and moisture characteristics • Classified by Source Region Continental (c) or Maritime (m) Polar (P) or Tropical (T) • Source Regions Big in area (>>1600 km by 1600 km) Dominated by light winds (long resident times)

  21. Assignment for Next Lecture • Topic -Fronts • Reading -Ahrens pg 212-219 • Problems -8.12, 8.13

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