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Maritime Tropical Air Masses
warm temperatures and rich in moisture
Maritime tropical air masses
originate over the warm waters of the tropics
and Gulf of Mexico, where heat and moisture are transferred to the
overlying air from the waters below.
The northward movement of tropical air
masses transports warm moist air into
the United States, increasing the potential
for precipitation.
Tropical air masses are generally
restricted to the southern states during much of
the winter. However, southerly winds
ahead of migrating cyclones occasionally
transport a tropical air mass northward during the winter season.
Below is a map of surface observations and
the leading edge of a tropical air mass surging northward into the Ohio
Valley has been highlighted in red. Southerly winds behind the boundary
signify the continued northward transport of warm moist air.
From these reports, we see that
most stations in the tropical air mass generally exhibit relatively warmer
temperatures, with higher
dew point temperatures,
and winds generally out of the south.
Notice that on the other side of the red boundary, outside of this air
mass, surface conditions are much different, which indicates the presence
of an entirely different air mass.
continental polar
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Fronts
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