How can i tell if a warm front or cold front has a lot of energy with it?

Question

How can i tell if a warm front or cold front has a lot of energy with it?

Answer 1

You can't really tell unless you have the equipment.  If low pressure systems are along the fronts, it energizes the fronts. You can sometimes tell if the air behind the fronts are drastically cooler or warmer than before the passage of the front. That sometimes tells you too.

Answer 2

Cloud type formation. For example, if you can see cumulonimbus clouds being formed, then it is likely that there is a fast moving cold front. And often times a thunderstorm will occur if the warm air is unstable.

On average, cold fronts are about twice as steep as warm fronts. They also advance more rapidly than do warm fronts. The rate of movement and steepness of slope are what account for the more violent nature of cold front weather compared to the weather which generally comes from a warm front.

Usually the cold front has more energy- rapid forceful lifting of air and release of latent heat when water vapor condenses causes an increase in the airs buoyancy and thus a heavy downpour and harsh winds associated with cumulonimbus clouds result.  

Also, you will notice- with a cold front the precipitation intensity is greater but for a shorter period of time.

Answer 3

That depends on what you mean by energy. If you are referring to their ability to produce precipitation, thunderstorms, and severe weather, then here's the general idea. You must know what the frontal boundaries are available to work with. For example, if there are large temperature differences between contrasting air masses, plenty of heat, and an abundance of moisture, then the weather fronts have a lot of 'energy.' There are more factors that play a role in all of this, but these are the most important ones.

Answer 4

The energy needed to create a strong low pressure over a front is the difference of temperature.This is why, along the temperate latitudes where a front exists between the polar air and temperate air masses, the frequency of storms is greater in the winter than the summer. In the winter, the difference between the temperature at the pole and the equator is greater than in the summer.

There is no reason to think that a warm front has more or less energy than a cold front. One could argue that if the cold air following the low is colder than the one in front of it - thus leading to a cold occlusion as the fronts merge and the forward cold air is lifted by the even colder rear one - then the cold front would have more energy than the warm one. But the picture is much more complex than that. Much of the energy needed to lift the air in a convection is provided by the degree of humidity of the temperate air since its adiabatic cooling is much slower than dry air and therefore will continue to rise further.

Seafarers from all time know that the wind that follows the low, as the barometer increases, is more fearful that then leading one. But that is because, as the cold front passes, the air is unstable, leading to thunderstorms and gusty winds. The average wind speed may not be much higher but the gusts makes it feel like it. Furthermore, as the wind veers if in the northern hemisphere and the low passes at your north side, it creates a chaotic sea since the wind now blows maybe at right angle of the previous swell.

But what sailors in small sailboats may fear most is the squall line that may be ahead of a cold front. The wind goes from calm to gale force in a matter of seconds. If it happens during daytime, you will see the typical cloud formation and reduce sail in time but if it happens at night ...

Don't ask me how I know: Been sailing for most of my 60 years!