FAA Airline Transport Pilot (ATM)Meteorology and Weather ServicesEasy
A pilot is briefed that a warm front is approaching the destination airport from the southwest. Which sequence of weather conditions should the pilot expect as the front approaches?
- ARapid clearing followed by cumulonimbus clouds and gusty winds
- BLowering ceilings, thickening stratiform clouds, and steady precipitation
- CClear skies with light and variable surface winds
- DA sudden temperature drop accompanied by hail and lightning
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Lowering ceilings, thickening stratiform clouds, and steady precipitation
Warm fronts are characterized by a gradual, gentle slope that produces a progression from high cirrus clouds to lowering stratiform decks with steady, widespread precipitation as the front nears. Cold fronts, not warm fronts, typically bring rapid clearing or violent convective weather.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. This describes a fast-moving cold front passage, not a warm front.
- C. Clear skies are not typical ahead of an approaching warm front.
- D. Sudden temperature drops with hail are associated with cold fronts or thunderstorms.
Warm Front Weather
A warm front forms where warm air overrides cooler air along a shallow frontal slope, producing a gradual deterioration of weather ahead of the surface front.
- Shallow slope (~1:100) causes clouds to extend far ahead of the surface position
- Cloud sequence: cirrus, cirrostratus, altostratus, nimbostratus
- Produces steady precipitation and lowering ceilings, sometimes fog
Memory trick: Warm front = slow slide in, clouds pile up gradually like a ramp