What is the source region of a maritime polar air masses?

What is the source region of a maritime polar air masses?

MARITIME POLAR AIR MASS. The source region for mP air is over cold ocean currents or high latitude ocean waters. This air does not have as much moisture content as mT air. Since mP air is always near saturation, orographic lifting of the air mass can produce widespread rain or snow.

Where are maritime polar air masses?

Maritime Polar (mP) air masses develop over the polar areas of both the Northern and the Southern hemispheres. They generally contain considerably more moisture than the cP air masses.

What is the source region for continental air mass?

The continental Tropical (cT) air mass originates in arid or desert regions in the middle or lower latitudes, principally during the summer season. It is strongly heated in general, but its moisture content is so low that the intense dry convection normally fails to reach the condensation level.

What are maritime polar air masses associated with?

Maritime polar air masses form over the northern Atlantic and the northern Pacific oceans. They most often influence the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast. Maritime polar air masses can form any time of the year and are usually not as cold as continental polar air masses.

What are the characteristics of an air mass source region?

Where an air mass receives it’s characteristics of temperature and humidity is called the source region. Air masses are slowly pushed along by high-level winds, when an air mass moves over a new region, it shares its temperature and humidity with that region.

What is a good air mass source region?

Parts of the Earth’s surface where the air can stagnate and gradually gain properties of the underlying surface are called source regions. The main source regions are the high pressure belts in the subtropics (giving rise to tropical air masses) and around the poles (the source for polar air masses).

What are two air masses meet called?

When two different air masses come into contact, they don’t mix. They push against each other along a line called a front. When a warm air mass meets a cold air mass, the warm air rises since it is lighter. At high altitude it cools, and the water vapor it contains condenses. This type of front is called a warm front.

How do air masses affect weather?

When winds move air masses, they carry their weather conditions (heat or cold, dry or moist) from the source region to a new region. When the air mass reaches a new region, it might clash with another air mass that has a different temperature and humidity. This can create a severe storm.

What happens when two types of air masses meet?

When two air masses meet together, the boundary between the two is called a weather front. At a front, the two air masses have different densities, based on temperature, and do not easily mix. One air mass is lifted above the other, creating a low pressure zone. Fronts are the main cause of stormy weather.

What are the six types of air masses?

The Six Types. Okay, so now that you know the terms for land or water, as well as the different source regions, you have enough information to determine the six types of air masses. These are: continental arctic (cA), maritime arctic (mA), continental polar (cP), maritime polar (mP), continental tropical (cT), and maritime tropical (mT).

What are characteristics of maritime tropical air masses?

Maritime tropical (mT) air masses are warm, moist, and usually unstable. Some maritime tropical air masses originate in the subtropical Pacific Ocean , where it is warm and air must travel a long distance over water. These rarely extend north or east of southern California.

What are North American air masses?

Continental Polar air masses (cP) are air masses that are cold and dry due to their continental source region. Continental polar air masses that affect North America form over interior Canada.

What is the definition of maritime air mass?

Maritime air mass, vast body of air of oceanic origin; also, an air mass ( q.v.) that has had a long trajectory over water and has been so modified that it has the characteristics of an air mass of oceanic origin.