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Aviation Glossary :: Cold Front  Aviation Glossary :: Cold Front FAA Written Test Preparation
Aviation Glossary Welcome to the Dauntless Aviation Glossary!

At Dauntless, our editorial staff maintains the web's largest unified glossary of aviation terms. This glossary is built from a combination of official, quasi-official, and proprietary sources (including original material that we develop oursselves). Uniquely, we often provide multiple definitions of a given term so that you can find that which best applies to you. In order to maximize your learning efficiency, this glossary (and similar ones for our international users) is incresingly fully integrated into our aviation learning apps, including our FAA written test prep and FAA practical test prep software and apps. If you like this glossary, you'll love them with their polished learning environments and world's best and clearest content (please do give them a try.).

Cold Front
Cold Front
Any non-occluded front which moves in such a way that colder air replaces warmer air.
source: FAA Aviation Weather for Pilots (AC 00-6A)
In weather, the leading edge of a cold air mass displacing a warmer air mass.
source: FAA Balloon Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-11)
Any nonoccluded front that moves in such a way that colder air replaces warmer air.
source: FAA Parachute Rigger Handbook (FAA-H-8084-17)
Any nonoccluded front that moves in such a way that colder air replaces warmer air.
source: FAA Pilot Guide: Flight in Icing Conditions (AC 91-74A)
The boundary between two air masses where cold air is replacing warm air.
source: FAA Weight Shift Control Handbook (FAA-H-8083-5)
A zone separating two air masses, of which the cooler, denser mass is advancing and replacing the warmer.
source: NOAA National Weather Service Glossary
A cold front is defined as the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, replacing (at ground level) a warmer mass of air, which lies within a fairly sharp surface trough of low pressure. It forms in the wake of an extratropical cyclone, at the leading edge of its cold air advection pattern, which is also known as the cyclone's dry conveyor belt circulation. Temperature changes across the boundary can exceed 30 °C (54 °F). When enough moisture is present, rain can occur along the boundary. If there is significant instability along the boundary, a narrow line of thunderstorms can form along the frontal zone. If instability is less, a broad shield of rain can move in behind the front, which increases the temperature difference across the boundary. Cold fronts are stronger in the fall and spring transition seasons and weakest during the summer. When a cold front catches up with the preceding warm front, the portion of the boundary that does so is then known as an occluded front.

The cooler and denser air wedges under the less-dense warmer air, lifting it. This upward motion causes lowered pressure along the cold front and can cause the formation of a narrow line of showers and thunderstorms when enough moisture is present. On weather maps, the surface position of the cold front is marked with the symbol of a blue line of triangles/spikes (pips) pointing in the direction of travel. A cold front's location is at the leading edge of the temperature drop off, which in an isotherm analysis would show up as the leading edge of the isotherm gradient, and it normally lies within a sharp surface trough. Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts and can produce sharper changes in weather. Since cold air is denser than warm air, it rapidly replaces the warm air preceding the boundary.

In the northern hemisphere, a cold front usually causes a shift of wind from southwest to northwest clockwise, also known as veering, and in the southern hemisphere a shift from northwest to southwest, in an anticlockwise manner. Normally, cold fronts can be marked by these characteristics:

source: Wikitionary / Wikipedia and Related Sources (Edited)

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Disclaimer: While this glossary in most cases is likely to be highly accurate and useful, sometimes, for any number of editorial, transcription, technical, and other reasons, it might not be. Additionally, as somtimes you may have found yourself brought to this page through an automated term matching system, you may find definitions here that do not match the cotext or application in which you saw the original term. Please use your good judgement when using this resource.


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