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Cyclonic Precipitation

Cyclonic precipitation is caused by the lifting of air masses due to pressure differences and can be frontal or non-frontal. Frontal precipitation occurs when a warm air mass is lifted over a colder, denser air mass along a frontal boundary like a warm or cold front. Non-frontal precipitation occurs when low pressure causes surrounding higher pressure air to flow in horizontally and lift the air in the low pressure area, cooling it and causing precipitation.

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883 views3 pages

Cyclonic Precipitation

Cyclonic precipitation is caused by the lifting of air masses due to pressure differences and can be frontal or non-frontal. Frontal precipitation occurs when a warm air mass is lifted over a colder, denser air mass along a frontal boundary like a warm or cold front. Non-frontal precipitation occurs when low pressure causes surrounding higher pressure air to flow in horizontally and lift the air in the low pressure area, cooling it and causing precipitation.

Uploaded by

Rubelyn Alabado
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Cyclonic Precipitation:

Cyclonic precipitation is caused by lifting of an air mass


due to the pressure difference. Cyclonic precipitation
may be either frontal or non-frontal cyclonic
precipitation.
1. Frontal precipitation:

It results from the lifting of warm and moist air on one


side of a frontal surface over colder, denser air on the
other side. A front may be warm front or cold front
depending upon whether there is active or passive
accent of warm air mass over cold air mass.2.
2. Non-frontal precipitation:

If low pressure occurs in an area (called cyclone), air


will flow horizontally from the surrounding area (high
pressure), causing the air in the low-pressure area to
lift. When the lifted warm-air cools down at higher
attitude, non-frontal cyclonic precipitation will occur.
In the case of a cold front, a colder, denser air mass
lifts the warm, moist air ahead of it. As the air rises, it
cools and its moisture condenses to produce clouds
and precipitation. Due to the steep slope of a cold front,
forceful rising motion is often produced, leading to the
development of showers and occasionally severe
thunderstorms.

In the case of a warm front, the warm, less dense air


rises up and over the colder air ahead of the front.
Again, the air cools as it rises and its moisture
condenses to produce clouds and precipitation. Warm
fronts have a gentler slope and generally move more
slowly than cold fronts, so the rising motion along warm
fronts is much more gradual. Precipitation that
develops in advance of a surface warm front is typically
steady and more widespread than precipitation
associated with a cold front. Warm front precipitation is
generally light to moderate.

Convective Precipitation
Convective precipitation is caused by natural rising of
warmer, lighter air in colder, denser surroundings.
Generally, this kind of precipitation occurs in tropics,
where on a hot day, the ground surface gets heated
unequally, causing the warmer air to lift up as the
colder air comes to take its place. The vertical air
currents develop tremendous velocities. Convective
precipitation occurs in the form of showers of high
intensity and short duration.

Orographic Precipitation
Orographic precipitation is caused by air masses which
strike some natural topographic barriers like mountains,
and cannot move forward and hence rise up, causing
condensation and precipitation. All the precipitation we
have in Himalayan region is because of this nature. It is
rich in moisture because of their long travel over
oceans.

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