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Ongoing Fronts

Did you know that the term “front” used on modern weather maps came into use because of their resemblance to the military fronts of the First World War?

The idea first emerged in Norway in the early 1900s by Jacob Bjerknes who created the notion of a “front” as a boundary between two air masses. In this context he was the first to visualise what we now call a ‘weather front’ as the ‘front line’ in a ‘battle’ where warm air represents one side and its ‘enemy’ cold air, the other.

Depending on which is the stronger side, weather fronts are now categorised as cold fronts (where the cold air is ‘winning’), warm fronts (where the warm air is ‘winning’) or occluded fronts (which have the characteristics of both warm and cold fronts).

Image – ©  The Weather Channel

This article was kindly contributed by Paul Dean, Member Services Manager, East Sussex County Council