What direction do air masses travel across Canada?
Global winds set up the main direction for air currents in an area. They are prevailing winds. In Canada, the prevailing winds blow from west to east and are called Westerlies.
Which direction does the air mass travel?
Cold air masses tend to move toward the equator. Warm air masses tend to move toward the poles. The Coriolis effect causes them to move on a diagonal. Many air masses move toward the northeast over the U.S. This is the same direction that global winds blow.
What air masses affect Canada?
Five air masses affect Canada’s weather: continental arctic, maritime arctic, maritime polar, maritime tropical, and continental tropical. Winds carry these great bodies of air across the country.
What air mass is in central Canada?
In the north are found the Arctic air mass, over Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago; the polar continental, over northern central Canada; the maritime polar Pacific, over the Gulf of Alaska and the northern Pacific shores; and the maritime polar Atlantic, off the Atlantic provinces of Canada and New England.
Which type of air mass originates over western Canada and Alaska then moves south and east over the central United States?
2. A continental polar air mass can form over the land during the winter months. In the Northern Hemisphere, it originates in northern Canada or Alaska. As it moves southward, it brings dry weather conditions to the United States.
What air mass originates in northern Canada?
Continental polar (cP) or continental arctic (cA) air masses are cold, dry, and stable. These air masses originate over northern Canada and Alaska as a result of radiational cooling.
Which type of air mass originates in central Canada?
Which air mass is responsible for Canada’s winters?
polar air
In Atlantic Canada: In winter polar air dominates the Northern Hemisphere; the Arctic Front is about 38°N; Atlantic Canada experiences cold cP (clear and cool) air masses and mP air masses (cool and wet – lots of snow!).
What kind of air mass comes from the North Pole?
continental polar
If an air mass forms over land in the far north it is called continental polar.
What air mass forms over Canada and moves south?
Continental polar (cP) or continental arctic (cA) air masses are cold, dry, and stable. These air masses originate over northern Canada and Alaska as a result of radiational cooling. They move southward, east of Rockies into the Plains, then eastward.
What are the 4 air masses?
Meteorologists identify air masses according to where they form over the Earth. There are four categories for air masses: arctic, tropical, polar and equatorial. Arctic air masses form in the Arctic region and are very cold. Tropical air masses form in low-latitude areas and are moderately warm.
What is arctic air masses?
Arctic air masses, designated by the letter ‘A’, are very cold as they originate over the Arctic or Antarctic regions. Polar air masses, designated by the letter ‘P’, are not as cold as Arctic air masses as they originate over the higher latitudes of both land and sea.
What type of air mass develops over northern Canada?
Therefore, an air mass that develops over northern Canada is called a continental polar air mass and is cold and dry. One that forms over the Indian Ocean is called a maritime tropical air mass and is warm and humid.
What is the difference between air mass boundaries and fronts?
Air mass boundaries. A warm front is the opposite affect in that warm air replaces cold air. There is also a stationary front, which, as the name implies, means the boundary between two air masses does not move. The motion of air masses also affects where a good portion of precipitation occurs.
What happens when a front meets an mT air mass?
When such a front meets an mT air mass, and underrides it, a very unstable condition is produced that will result in numerous thunderstorms and, occasionally, tornadoes. When air stagnates in a region where surface characteristics are uniform, it acquires those characteristics and becomes an air mass.
What is air mass in encyclopedic entry?
Encyclopedic entry. An air mass is a large volume of air in the atmosphere that is mostly uniform in temperature and moisture. Air masses can extend thousands of kilometers in any direction, and can reach from ground level to the stratosphere—16 kilometers (10 miles) into the atmosphere.