What is an atmospheric front? Atmospheric fronts, cyclones and anticyclones

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Rain… Snow… Piercing wind… Scorching sun… These manifestations of weather are familiar to each of us from deep childhood. But even having diligently studied geography at school, we are still sometimes surprised by sudden changes in temperature and unusual natural disasters. Atmospheric fronts are invariably associated with climatic shocks. They shape everyday weather and define the boundaries of the seasons.

Atmospheric front

The word "front" (from the Latin "frontis" - forehead, front side) implies a fine line between something. It can pass, for example, between different areas of combat operations: areas of concentration of enemy forces and a friendly army. If we use the phrase "atmospheric front", then we mean a boundary in the air, a certain boundary in the atmosphere. What exactly does he share, and how does it affect us?

Mother Nature has formed a favorable climate in which a person can exist, multiply and develop. We live in the troposphere, the lower part of the atmosphere, which not only provides us with oxygen, but alsois in constant motion. Some volumetric masses of air in it interact from time to time. In the middle of each of these formations there are small pockets of microclimate, which differ in properties, but are generally homogeneous, maintaining a stable temperature and humidity. Masses move over the surface of the Earth, meet and even collide. But they never mix. The border between them is called the atmospheric front.

Main species

The width of the strip between the same properties of air masses reaches tens, sometimes hundreds of kilometers. This is an atmospheric front, where jumps in air pressure, changes in cloudiness and temperature always occur. That is, it is in these areas that one can observe how the hot sun is replaced by cold rain and vice versa. If very close, in fact, homogeneous masses come into contact, an atmospheric front does not arise. As a result, the weather does not change.

There are several types of atmospheric fronts. They were formed on the basis of climatic zones, the main indicators of which remain constant.

Arctic. Separates cold arctic air from temperate air.
Polar. Located between temperate and tropical air masses.
Tropical. This is the border between the tropical and equatorial zones.

In the case of complete immobility of the air masses, the front would take a horizontal position. In this case, the layer of cold air would always be at the bottom, and warm - at the top. But as a resultof constant cyclicity, it is located at an angle to the surface of the earth.

Cold front

Whether the weather in our region will change and what it will be - all this will be demonstrated by the map of atmospheric fronts. It clearly shows that the warm front is always inclined in the direction in which it moves, the cold one - in the opposite direction. When the latter moves into a zone of high temperature, and penetrates into it in a kind of wedge, pushing it up, cooling sets in in this territory. Warm masses gradually cool down, moisture is released from them - this is how clouds and clouds are formed.

The first sign of an approaching cold front is rain cumulus formations that appear on the horizon. At the same time, the wind blows in gusts, sharply changing direction. The wall of pouring rain collapses suddenly. The sky is gloomy, lightning cuts it, thunder rumbles, sometimes hail comes. The bad weather lasts no more than two hours, after which the precipitation stops. The air temperature drops, sometimes by 5–10 degrees at once, as the space of the atmosphere is completely occupied by a cold front that has displaced air warmed by the sun.

Warm Front

It is formed when a zone of high positive temperature "flows" onto a cold mass. She seems to be sliding on it, gradually rising. The weather changes smoothly, without unexpected sudden jumps and drops. Cirrus clouds are the first sign that an atmospheric front is approaching, in the center of which there is a rather high air temperature. There is no wind yet. Ifhe is, then his breaths are always pleasant and light.

Gradually the clouds melt and the sky forms a continuous white veil of small layered formations that move across the clear blue sky. After some time, they bunch up: a dense layer sinks lower, the wind rises, it drizzles, or light snow falls. Precipitation intensifies, lasts for several hours, sometimes days, after which warming sets in. Good weather doesn't last long. The atmospheric front, in which the temperature is low, catches up with the heat zone, as it moves faster and faster.

Cyclone

The air on the surface of the earth is unevenly distributed. As a result, zones with high and low pressure are formed. In the first region, air is in excess, in the second - in short supply. From the zone of high pressure, it flows outward, as if pouring over the edge of the glass, and fills the formed "holes" in the area where the pressure is low. We call this phenomenon of nature the wind.

The area of low pressure is the cyclone. It has the shape of a whirlwind. Watch how water flows out of the sink - it forms a funnel. The same principle shows us the weather. Cyclone - the same funnel in the sink, only turned upside down. In its center is a low pressure pole, which draws in air from all sides and rushes up, and it twists clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere. It is cloudy inside the cyclone, because along withwith the wind, it "sucks" the clouds into itself. They slide into it from those areas where the pressure is high.

Anticyclone

It works exactly the opposite. There is high pressure in the center, there is a lot of air there, so it spreads in all directions, as if cream squeezed out of a confectionery bag. The currents swirl clockwise in the northern hemisphere, counter-clockwise in the southern. To give another example, if you draw a carbonated drink into a straw and then release it, it will invariably drain into a glass. A similar phenomenon occurs in an anticyclone. Only with the help of air and on a global scale.

The weather in the anticyclone is usually clear, as high pressure forces clouds out of this area. At the same time, it is always very hot in summer: there are no barriers in the form of clouds that prevent the sun from warming up the air. In winter, the opposite is true. The sun is low enough, but it cannot warm the air: there are no clouds, and therefore nothing retains heat. As a result, in winter, when the anticyclone comes, the weather is clear but frosty. By the way, by studying atmospheric fronts, cyclones and anticyclones, their movements, modifications and transformation, weather forecasters make a weather forecast for a particular region.

What does the coming day have in store for us?

The most difficult thing, forecasters say, is to predict the weather for the next three days. That is, after collecting all the necessary information, you need to quickly process it, taking into account all the vagaries of atmospheric fronts, changes in cyclones and anticyclones. And only by comparing the data, you can doconclusion.

Weather forecasts are as follows:

Short-term - a maximum of three days.
Mid-term - up to ten days.
Long-term weather forecast - for a month or a season.

The first two types are the solution by weather forecasters of the equations of thermodynamics and dynamics, which describe the state of the atmosphere. To do this, experts analyze the possibility of a change in wind direction, precipitation, expected pressure surges and air humidity. A long-range weather forecast is never completely accurate. Even with the latest equipment, weather forecasters cannot foresee all the surprises nature has in store. But in any case, it is necessary to make it, since such a forecast refers to the expected monthly or seasonal weather anomalies.