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How to Identify Warm & Cold Fronts

When weather fronts change, you can occasionally feel the difference in the air. A warm day that turns suddenly cooler reveals a cold front and potential storms that can turn violent. Weather fronts are transition zones between two air masses of different properties, usually temperature and humidity. Since the different fronts bring different types of weather, this is a useful skill to acquire.

Instructions

- 1
  Notice the temperature. Warmer, more humid air means a warm front is present. Cold fronts bring cooler or cold air after stormy weather. While both warm and cold fronts can bring rain, snow and storms, cold fronts cause the most violent, severe storms.
- 2
  Feel the humidity in the air. Warmer air holds more moisture, denoting high humidity and steady, light rains. Crisp, cold, dry air reveals a cold front passing.
- 3
  Check the wind. A change or shift in wind direction means a front is moving closer. The shift in the direction of the wind is key, not the direction itself. Generally, though, in the northern hemisphere, a cold front moves from northwest to southeast, while a warm front moves from southwest to northeast.
- 4
  
  Fog is a sign of a warm front.
  
  Notice the clouds. Cirrus clouds, the light, wispy, high level clouds looking somewhat like horsetails, precede both cold and warm fronts. With a warm front, look for low layer stratus clouds. Look for steady precipitation if the clouds are gray, heavy and full of rain. Fog, which is basically a cloud on the ground, denotes a warm front.
- 5
  Look for storms. Cold fronts push strong thunderstorms and at times squall lines of thunderstorms parallel to and ahead of it. Warm fronts can trigger thunderstorms, but generally storms of warm fronts will be less severe.
- 6
  
  Check the barometer to see if there's a change in air pressure.
  
  Check the barometer. Air pressure changes come with the fronts, whether warm or cold. A change in the pressure means a different front is passing the area.
- 7
  Study weather maps. A solid blue line connecting triangles pointing in the direction of movement denotes a cold front. A solid red line with semi-circles pointing in the direction of its movement shows a warm front.

Nature