blobs of air we call Air Masses

It's been frigidly cold here in the flat, windy, blowing snow state. There are hopes in the near future of a little warm up. These well below normal temperatures are spawned from a few different things in the atmosphere, however the one underling factor is the COLD air mass that was pulled down from Canada after the last major storm event!!

Snowfall amounts across MN from 12/10-12/11
Courtesy of the NWS in Chanhassen MN.

After the storm is when the bitter cold set in, especially in to the cold, flat and windy state beside MN.

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Around the world there are these large bodies of air. (I like to refer to them as blobs) When these massive blobs of air have similar characteristics (like temperature and moisture) then we call them "Air Masses." These air masses can be as big as thousands of square kilometers.

Since scientists are all about classifying things, Meteorologist are too. We like to classify air masses by their source/temperature and their moisture content. Continental (c) for origination over land and Maritime (m) for origination over a large body of water (like the ocean). For temperature wise, there is Polar (P) for the origination in the polar regions and  Tropical (T) for origination in the warmer regions. Sometime there is even the occasional Artic (A) air mass that originates in really cold climates.

Picture of the air masses.
From srh.noaa.gov

There are 4 main air masses that affect the United States! If we are really lucky there are 5...

#1 Continental Polar (cP)
       -Cold and Dry
       -Can cause bitter
       cold air from
       Canada to invade
       the US

#2 Continental Tropical (cT)
        -Warm and Dry
        -Usually found in the desert parts of the US

#3 Maritime Polar (mP)
        -Cold and Wet
        -Cold weather from the Pacific invades the US
#4 Maritime Tropical (mT)
        -Warm and Wet
        -Usually a very warm and humid air mass form the Atlantic
        Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico

and if we are lucky *sarcasm*
#5 Continental Artic (cA)
        -Frigid and Dry
        -Invades the US from the far reaches of Canada. Usually after a
        big snow storm travels from Canada to the US.

The cA air mass is what invaded after the major snow storm last week. Man did it get chilly a few nights... There is still hope... more average temperatures in the near future... HOORAY!

**Check out the NWS for a better forecast!

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HOLIDAY/WEATHER JOKE

What do snowmen eat for breakfast??

FROSTED FLAKES!!