Kendall Smith

Fronts are a boundary between two or more air masses. There are four basic kinds of fronts. One, warm front fronts, two, cold fronts, three, stationary fronts, and lastly, occlusion fronts. These types of fronts can bring a variety of different types of weather patterns depending on which air mass dominates the other. Fronts can be associated with lift in the atmosphere which are required for cloud formation, active weather patterns, and precipitation. The interaction between two or more air masses can affect the structure of clouds. For example, warm fronts often bring a system of stratiform like clouds while cold fronts on the other hand bring narrow bands of clouds, including cumulonimbus clouds, which are responsible for producing thunderstorms, rain/hail, lightning, and tornadoes.

Surface temperatures in the Deep South, Northeast, and the Southeast will lie between the low 60s to low 40s. Temperatures in the lower troposphere will lie in the high 50s to low 30s tomorrow. Colder temperatures will lie in the high single digits anf high teens at 850mb. This pressure level plays an important role in weather forecasting. Low level stratiform clouds will form over portions of the upper MI valley where elevated snow will occur. Also moisture content in this atmosphere will be moderate. This means that moisture at different levels will become sufficent enough for possible rain and snow showers to form in these layers, depending on temperature and vapor profiles. Temperatures in the Deep South will contain slightly higher temperatures and moisture dewpoints which will allow for rain showers to occur. This portion of the United States will contain a warmer and moister airmass which will collide with the cold drier airmass in the upper valleys, leading to heavy snow shower and thunderstoms at the same time. Light to moderate snow will extend across the Great Lakes to some portions of the northeast. Meanwhile light to very heavy rain will move across the deep south, northeast, and parts of the southwest between tomorrow and friday. Slight steep laspe rates could lead to the potential of severe weather. Moderate CAPE will be present in parts of the southern plains where more unstable air will occur.