Name-____________________________
Weather Fronts
Study Guide
1. Define precipitation- When water droplets in a cloud combine, become too
heavy, fall to the ground as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
2. Define air mass- It is a large body of air that has the same properties as the
Earth’s surface over which it develops.
3. What is relative humidity? It is a measure of the amount of water vapor that
air is holding compared to the amount needed for saturation at a specific
temperature.
4. Describe cumulus clouds- Masses of fluffy, white clouds, often with flat bases,
that you can see different animal shapes with.
5. What is a weather front? The boundary between cold and warm air masses.
Name and describe the 3 weather fronts:
a. Warm Front- warm air that collides with cold air
moves slowly, causing fog or rain for days, and in the winter, snow
b. Cold Front- front-rapidly moving cold air mass that runs into a slowly
moving warm air mass
Move quickly, causing violent storms
c. Stationary Front- This is where warm and cold front are battling and
existing as 1 front and are stationed in an area for a while.
6. What are stratus clouds? They are smooth gray clouds that cover the whole sky
and block out the sun. These clouds produce steady, light precipitation.
a. What are nimbo-status clouds? They are clouds that are low and
layered that produce precipitation.
7. Define dew point. It is the temperature at which air is saturated and
condensation forms clouds.
8. Explain what cirrus clouds are. They are clouds that are high, thin and
feathery containing ice crystals which can indicate approaching storms.
9. What are isobars? Isobars keep track of high- and low-pressure areas, weather
maps are drawn with lines connecting points with equal atmosphere
pressure.
10. Which type of front do violent storms occur? Violent storms form along a cold
front.
11. Which type of front does precipitation occur? It occurs in a low pressure
system.
12. How do clouds form? Clouds form as warm air rises, expands, cools, and
becomes saturated, and water vapor condenses into tiny drops, which collect.
13. What will the weather be like when we are experiencing a high pressure system?
The weather will be good because the air masses sink, making it difficult for
clouds to form (More dense cold air).
a. Low pressure? Stormy, cloudy warm air (Less dense warm air).
14. Explain how the Day After Tomorrow could really happen in real life. The Day
After Tomorrow has several events that could occur in real life. The polar ice caps
melting have started to occur due to the overall increase in temperature of the
Earth’s surface which has increase 2 ^ C and a large piece of ice has fallen into the
Arctic Ocean several years ago. Because of this, it changes the salinity of the water
and increases the amount of fresh water in the oceans. The ocean water will become
less dense and will no longer be able to sink due to the change in density based on
the prior events. When this occurs, the ocean currents will shut down and will no
longer be able to bring back the warm waters from the equator and the overall
temperature of the Earth will decrease as a result and could be shoved into an ice
age more rapidly than the expected cycle the Earth goes through.