Mid-Latitude Flashcards
Mid-Latitude
Air mass
A huge mass of air, extending for hundreds of kilometres, with similar
temperature and humidity
Backing
The anticlockwise change in wind direction that occurs as a mid-latitude
cyclone passes over.
Cold front
The leading edge of a cold air mass of a mid-latitude cyclone.
Cold front
occlusion
An occlusion where the overtaking cold air is colder than the cold air ahead
of it. The overtaking cold front lifts warm air off the ground.
Cold sector
The mass of colder air behind the cold front in a mid-latitude cyclone.
Cyclogenesis
The development and strengthening of a mid-latitude and Tropical cyclone
Front
The boundary separating two air masses with different densities.
ITCZ
The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone; an area where the tropical easterlies
converge.
Jet stream:
A band of very strong westerly winds high in the atmosphere (troposphere)
which partly controls the development of mid-latitude cyclones.
Mid-latitude
cyclone
A large, low-pressure weather system made up of warm and cold fronts;
also called an extra-tropical cyclone, temperate depression or frontal
depression.
Occluded
front
A front formed when a cold front overtakes and replaces a warm air mass.
Occlusion
The decaying stage in the development of a mid-latitude cyclone where the
cold front to the rear catches up with the leading warm front, lifts the warm
air off the ground and meets the cold air ahead of the warm front.
Polar front
Zone separating the cold polar air (easterlies) and warm tropical air
(westerlies).
Veering wind
The shift of wind in a clockwise direction over time at a specific location, for
example from a southerly to south easterly.
Warm front
The leading edge of a warm air mass.
