Types of Fronts

Stationary front A front that is not moving.

Cold front is a leading edge of colder air that is replacing warmer air.
Warm front is a leading edge of warmer air that is replacing cooler air.

Occluded front: When a cold front catches up to a warm front.

Dry Line

Separates a moist air mass from a dry air mass.

A.

Cold Front is a transition zone from warm air to cold air.

A cold front is defined as the transition zone where a cold air mass is
replacing a warmer air mass.
Cold fronts generally move from northwest

to southeast.

The air behind a cold front is noticeably colder

air ahead of it.

and drier than the

When a cold front passes through, temperatures can drop more

than 15 degrees within the first hour.

The station east of the front reported a temperature of 55

degrees Fahrenheit while a short distance behind the front, the
temperature decreased to 38 degrees.
An abrupt temperature change over a short distance is a good
indicator that a front is located somewhere in between.

B.

Warm Front. A transition zone from cold air to warm air.

A warm front is defined as the transition zone where a

mass is

warm air

replacing a cold air mass.

Warm fronts generally move from southwest to northeast and

the air behind a warm front is warmer and more moist than the air
ahead of it.
When a warm front passes through, the air becomes noticeably

warmer and more humid than it was before.

Diagram of Warm and Cold Fronts

Looking at a Cold Front in more detail

Another view of a Cold Front

Looking at details of a Warm Front

Another view of the Warm Front

C.

Stationary Front a front that is not moving.

When a warm or cold front stops moving, it becomes a stationary

front.
Once this boundary resumes its forward motion, it once again
becomes a warm

front or cold front.

blue and red lines

with blue triangles pointing towards the warmer air and red
semicircles pointing towards the colder air.
A stationary front is represented by alternating

D. Occluded Front - when a cold front overtakes a warm

front.
A developing cyclone typically has a preceding warm front (the
leading edge of a warm moist air mass) and a faster moving cold
front (the leading edge of a colder drier air mass wrapping around the
storm).

cooler air that was in place

North of the warm front is a mass of

before the storm even entered the region.

As the storm intensifies, the cold front rotates around the storm
and catches the warm front.
This forms an occluded front, which is the boundary that separates
the new cold air mass (to the west) from the older cool air mass
already in place north of the warm front.
Symbolically, an occluded front is represented by a solid line with
alternating triangles
front is moving.

and circles pointing the direction the

Formation of an Occluded Front

Two
Types of
Occluded
Fronts

Special situation of an Occluded Front

Dry Line is a moisture

boundary.
A dry line is a boundary
that separates a moist air
mass from a dry air
mass.

Also called a "Dew Point Front", sharp changes in

dew point temperature can be observed across a dry line.
Dry lines are most commonly found just east of the
Rocky Mountains, separating a warm moist air mass to
the east from a hot dry air mass to the west.

Actual Weather
Map

Yellow dashes
mark the Dry Line

On the previous weather map ;

Dew points east (ahead) of the dry line shown above range from
the upper 50's to low 70's with winds from the southeast.
West of the dry line, dew points were in the 20's and 30's, a
decrease of nearly 50 degrees.
Air temperatures ahead of the dry line were generally in the 70's
and 80's while behind the dry line, temperatures ranged from the
mid 80's to mid 90's.
Drier air behind dry lines lifts the moist air ahead of it, triggering
the development of thunderstorms along and ahead of the dry line
(similar to cold fronts).
It is not uncommon for tornadic super cells to develop along a dry
line.