GEOB 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Warm Front, Cold Front, Thrust Stage

• School: UBC
• Department: Geographical Biogeosciences
• Course: GEOB 102
• Professor: Simon Donner

Document Summary

The weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, described by variables like temperature, moisture, wind velocity, and barometric pressure. A weather system is recurring pattern of atmospheric circulation associated with characteristic weather. The climate is the long-term average of weather conditions and extremes. (climate is what you expect, the weather is what you actually get) Large bodies of air with fairly uniform temperature and moisture. We define air masses based on their source: latitude (temperature) tropical, polar, arctic/antarctic, equatorial, surface type (moisture) marine, continental. Lifting an air mass: convergence (itcz, convection (florida, orographic (west coast, frontal precipitation. A front is the leading edge of an advancing air mass. The movement of air into cyclones (low pressure) and outward from anticyclones (high pressure) which travel across the surface are responsible for changing weather conditions, there are 3 types: (cid:862)wa(cid:448)e(cid:863) or (cid:862)(cid:373)id-latitude(cid:863) cyclo(cid:374)es, tropical cyclones, tornadoes. Cyclones or waves develop between contrasting air masses.