Exam 8: Air Masses, Fronts, and Middle Latitude Cyclones

The typical path of a winter mid-latitude cyclone is ____.

Cold fronts that move into the U.S. from the east, or northeast, are called ____.

Record breaking low temperatures are associated with which air mass?

Unstable air results from warm air above cooler air.

Because it is located at middle latitudes, the United States is only rarely affected by polar and tropical air masses.

Generally, the greatest lake-effect snowfall in the Great Lakes region occurs on the ____ shores.

Is it possible for a stationary front to produce precipitation? If so, explain the conditions in which precipitation is favorable.

An air mass is characterized by similar properties of ____ and ____ in any horizontal direction at a given altitude.

A stationary front does not move because winds on both sides of the front ____.

The air pressure normally ____ before a cold front passes and ____ after the front passes.

Air masses are large bodies of air whose properties of ____________________ and ____________________ are fairly similar in any horizontal direction at any given altitude.

Using the weather map in the accompanying figure, provide the following information: (1) Identify the type of front between points A and B. Describe the weather surrounding the front. (2) Identify the type of front between points B and C. Describe the weather surrounding the front. (3) Show on the weather map where a "warm sector" would be located.

Cyclogenesis occurs frequently on the eastern slopes of the Rockies as a result of ____.

Which air mass forms over North America only in summer?

If lows and highs aloft are directly above lows and high at the surface, ____.

Describe or illustrate the various phases in the life cycle of a mid-latitude cyclonic storm in the Northern Hemisphere according to the polar front theory.

Some mid-latitude cyclones may have calm winds at their center, similar to a hurricane's "eye".

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Would you expect a city to the EAST or WEST of the Appalachian Mountains to experience colder temperatures after a continental polar air mass has passed?

Lake-effect snows are best developed around the Great Lakes during ____.

What is the best source region for an air mass?