🔍 Key Concepts
• Warm vs. cold air masses and how they typically affect weather
• Relationship between temperature, moisture, and stability/instability
• How visibility is affected in humid, warm conditions (haze, fog, etc.)
💭 Think About
• Think about whether warm air tends to rise gently and layer, or rise vigorously and mix. What kind of weather does each situation create?
• Consider what usually reduces visibility at sea: is it more often associated with warm, moist air or cold, dry air?
• Ask yourself: when the atmosphere is stable, are large vertical air movements (and gusty, turbulent winds) encouraged or suppressed?
✅ Before You Answer
• Compare stability vs. instability: which one is typically linked to thunderstorms and strong gusty winds?
• Recall whether good visibility is more likely in cold, dry air or warm, moist air.
• Decide if a typical warm maritime air mass is more often smooth and layered, or turbulent with frequent vertical mixing.