Mariners Polytechnic Colleges

Foundation of Canaman (Cam,Sur) Inc.

Semi Final Assignment

MET 01

Synoptic Chart
A synoptic chart is the scientific term for a weather map. Synoptic charts provide information on
the distribution, movement and patterns of air pressure, rainfall, wind and temperature. This
information is conveyed using symbols, which are explained in a legend. Synoptic charts are used
to report on the current weather and to predict future weather patterns.

How to interpret a weather chart

by Kirsty McCabe, FRMetS

Met Office North Atlantic analysis chart for 1200 GMT 27 March 2020 (Courtesy Met
Office: Crown Copyright)

The word ‘synoptic’ simply means a summary of the current situation, so in weather terms, a
synoptic or pressure chart is a map that summarises the atmospheric conditions over a wide
area at a given time.

High and dry

Winds blow clockwise around an anticyclone or area of high pressure.

These can be found by looking for a big number, like 1020mb in the
centre of a loose circle on a weather chart. With descending air (hence
high pressure), cloud formation is limited. High pressure in the British
summertime often brings fine, warm weather and light winds. Even
ridging in the isobars means more settled conditions.
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Foundation of Canaman (Cam,Sur) Inc.

Swing low

The dartboards of a weather chart are cyclones or areas of low

pressure with isobars drawn in tightly packed circles. Here the winds
move in an anticlockwise direction, and air is rising. As it rises and
cools, water vapour condenses to form clouds and rain. Known to
bring unsettled, wet and windy weather, these depressions are aptly
named and usually have low numbers around 980mb.

As well as isobars, the other lines to look out for on pressure charts are weather fronts, which
represent the boundary between different air masses, and bodies of air with uniform
temperature and humidity profiles that bring distinctive weather features to the UK.

Frontal battleground

The boundary between two air masses is where the interesting weather happens. The concept
of weather fronts first appeared in 1919 when Norwegian meteorologist Wilhelm Bjerknes
identified that this transition zone was like a battleground between two opposing air masses
and termed it a front.

In our latitudes a front usually separates warm, moist

tropical air from cold, dry polar air. Whether it’s a cold or a
warm front depends on which air mass is winning the
battle. Bjerknes called the boundary between a warm air
mass and an advancing cold air mass a cold front, and
likewise the boundary between a cold air mass and an
advancing warm air mass a warm front. Fronts move with
the wind so with our prevailing westerlies they usually
travel from west to east with cold fronts moving faster than
warm fronts.

Heat is on

A warm front is usually coloured red with semicircles pointing in the direction of travel. The
semicircles were picked to resemble a rising sun bringing warmth. Ahead of an approaching
warm front the cloud thickens and it starts to rain. The rain band will extend up to 200 miles
ahead of the front, and while not as heavy as that of a cold front the rain lasts longer. In fact, the
weather often remains grey and drizzly even after the front has passed. This is due to “warm
sector” conditions between the warm front and a cold front. The actual passage of the front is
marked by the wind changing in a clockwise direction.
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Foundation of Canaman (Cam,Sur) Inc.

Cold Front

A cold front brings colder air, so the line representing it on a weather map is often coloured blue
with triangles on it, to remind us of icicles. These triangles point in the direction of travel of the
front. Cold fronts bring a fairly narrow band of rain, sometimes heavy and possibly thundery,
followed by clearer cooler spells and showers. Again, as the front passes the wind veers –
changes in a clockwise direction, from southerly to westerly for example.

Even on a black and white chart, the triangles and semicircles are enough to tell you what kind
of front you’re looking at.

Blowing hot and cold

Then there’s the purple lines with both triangles and semicircles? This is known as an occluded
front, which is what happens when a cold front catches up with a warm front, forcing the warm
air aloft. Consequently, the weather ahead of the occlusion is like that ahead of a warm front
whereas behind the occlusion will be similar to behind that of a cold front.
Sometimes the red, blue or purple line of a front will be broken by crosses. This indicates that
the front is weakening and there will be less of a difference between the cold and warm air, and
less rain is likely as well.

And finally, we have troughs – black lines with no semicircles or triangles (that aren’t isobars).
These mark areas where the air is particularly unstable and indicates showers are likely.

Occluded Front
When large masses of warm air and cold air meet, they do not mix because of density
differences. Instead, they form a front, usually hundreds of miles long. An Occluded Front forms
when a warm air mass gets caught between two cold air masses. The warm air mass rises as the
cool air masses push and meet in the middle. The temperature drops as the warm air mass is
occluded, or “cut off,” from the ground and pushed upward. Such fronts can bring strong winds
and heavy precipitation.
Occluded fronts usually form around mature low pressure areas.

Figure 1: An extra-tropical cyclone in the early stages of occlusion in the Northern Hemisphere
There are two types of occlusion, warm and cold:
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Cold occlusion

In a cold occlusion, the cold air mass overtaking the warm

front is colder than the cool air ahead of the warm front, and
plows under both air masses.

Warm occlusion

In a warm occlusion, the cool air mass overtaking the

warm front is warmer than the cold air ahead of the
warm front, and rides over the colder air mass while
lifting the warm air.

The occlusion process discussed above follows the original Norwegian Cyclone Model with the
formation of an occluded front simply as a result of surface frontal movements. Recent findings
indicate that the occlusion process is more complex than this, and that it is tied into the
development of a low pressure area or cyclone and developments above the surface.

Weather associated with an Occluded Front

A wide variety of weather can be found along an occluded front, with thunderstorms possible,
but usually their passage is associated with a drying of the air mass. Rarely, cold core funnel
clouds are possible if shear is significant along the cold front. Small isolated occluded fronts
often remain for a time after a low pressure system has decayed and these create cloudy
conditions with patchy rain or showers.
However, the clouds and precipitation are not really where the projection on the Earth's surface
of the occluded front is, particularly with a warm occlusion (as shown in the diagrams above)
but with the trough of warm air aloft (TROWAL) position.

Depiction on weather charts

A cold front would be seen as spikes and a warm front as semi-circles in a traditional weather
map. An occluded front, is a combination of those two signs. They are indicated on a weather
map either by a purple line with alternating semicircles and triangles pointing in direction of
travel, or by red semicircles and blue triangles pointing in the same direction.

Prepared by:

MIDN. Paul Klondike P. Boquila

BSMT 2B16

Instructor:
Capt. Serafin V. Lazado