Fronts! The good, the bad, the ugly.

What are fronts and what are things we should look for to help us determine the best course of action should we be flying.  The "boundary layer between two types of air masses is known as a front "  (PHAK Chapter 12)  There are four kinds of fronts.  Warm, Cold, Stationary and Occluded.  Although all of them include weather that isn't necessarily "good"  I am going to say what is good about each front, what is bad about each front, what is ugly about each front.

The Good:


Warm Front:  With a warm front the good thing about it is it moves more slowly.  Typically 10 to 25 mph.  The precipitation is usually light to moderate and it is very predictable in nature due to the gradual slope.

Cold Front: The good thing about a cold front is a double sided sword.  It moves quickly so the storms are around only for a short period of time compare to a warm front.






Stationary Front:  The good news about stationary fronts is they stick to one area, so they don't move on you when you least expect it.







Occluded Front:  With Occluded fronts it is hard to really see any good from them.  They are in essence a combination of all the fronts.  I guess the only good thing you could state about them is that they typically move slower than cold fronts.






The Bad: 

Warm Front:  Because they are slower moving that means that they are going to stick around for a few days, so if you ever have to land in VFR conditions, you are going to be waiting a few days before you will be able to fly again.

Cold Front:  They are gone fast but the bad thing is they spring up so quickly they are often associated with more violent storms.  "Extreme cold fronts have been recorded moving at speeds of up to 60 mph" (PHAK chapter 12).   Getting caught in a cold front, depending on what you are flying can be quite deadly.

Stationary Front:  If you thought warm fronts were bad at sticking around a while stationary fronts can stick around for even longer.  I like to look at it as the cold front and warm front are having a long battle and in the end no one wins.

Occluded Front:  Although not as violent and rapid as cold fronts, they take on the characteristics of both warm and cold fronts.  "The weather ahead of the cold occlusion is similar to that of a warm front while that along and behind the cold occlusion is similar to that of a cold front."( https://okfirst.mesonet.org/train/meteorology/Fronts.html)


The Ugly:

Warm Front:  With the continued rise of the dew point and cooling temperatures a large amount of fog and haze will happen as the front continues forward.  If there is little to no wind you can kiss your visibility goodbye.

Cold Front:  "Depending on the intensity of the cold front, heavy rain showers form and may be accompanied by lightning, thunder, and/or hail. More severe cold fronts can also produce tornadoes." (PHAK CHP 12)   Not only this but cold fronts are often associated with squall lines, which is a large line of cumulonimbus clouds which are associated with thunderstorms.

Stationary Front:  Pretty much the same statement as the bad.  Just days and days of low ceilings, rain, and poor visibility.  Think of the city of Seattle, which rains 150 days of the year.

Occluded Front:  I don't know if you can say occluded fronts are all that ugly, because it is a mix of warm and cold, but the cold pushes out the warm.  There is still low visibility and varying winds, but the cold front pushes the warm front out of the way a bit quicker.  So in a way it's a little bit of a stronger warm front that doesn't last as long.

References:

 

 

 

Pilot Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge  Chapter 12. 2017

 

https://okfirst.mesonet.org/train/meteorology/Fronts.html



https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/seattle-rainy-reputation