A Cold Front is a weather phenomenon which can be described as a zone of transition where a mass of cold air replaces a warmer mass of air. In other words a cold front is an area in which a warmer air mass is substituted by a cold air mass.

Formation of Cold Front :

The 2 separate air masses do not mingle as they are of dissimilar densities and temperatures. The air mass is generally drier and colder than the mass of air which is ahead of it. The cold mass of air is heavy, and therefore, it crams below the warm air and raises it. This can be explained by the theory that the warmer air is not as dense as the cold air. Due to this, soft fluffy balls of cumuliform clouds are formed as a result of condensation of warm air. Formation of clouds at the cold front is very common.

Characteristics of Cold Front :

A cold front usually travels towards the southeast from the northwest direction. A passage of cold front can considerably reduce the temperature by 15 degrees in the first hour itself. In general a cold front can be many kilometers wide. The air which follows a cold front is cooler than that ahead of it. So on standing below a warm front one would feel his body getting cooled and the air would become drier.

Effects of Cold Front :

•  A cold front normally changes the speed of winds and the generate air turbulence.

•  It can also initiate disturbances in the atmosphere like rain, tornadoes, squall lines, snow storms and thunder storms.

A cold front is symbolically marked by a solid blue line having triangles which show the direction of the front.