A front is the boundary where two air masses meet. Pick a front, then drag time forward and watch it cross your launch site. The clouds, rain, wind shift and temperature change arrive in the order a pilot would see them.
Each card ties one test idea to something you can change above.
An air mass takes on the temperature and moisture of where it formed. Cold air is denser, so it always sits underneath as a wedge. The front is the sloping boundary between the two.
Switch between front types and watch which air is on the bottom.
Cold air shoves under warm air on a steep slope, often moving 20–30 kt. The weather is a narrow band of cumulus and thunderstorms with gusty winds and heavy showers. It clears quickly behind.
Play the cold front and watch the temperature and dew point drop after it passes.
Warm air slides up over cold air on a very shallow slope. Clouds show up hundreds of miles ahead: cirrus, then cirrostratus, altostratus and nimbostratus. Expect steady rain, low ceilings and fog near the front.
Start the warm front at the far left and step slowly toward the front.
Neither air mass is winning, so the front barely moves. The winds blow along it in opposite directions on each side, and the clouds and rain can sit over the same area for days.
Pick Stationary and move your site from the cold side to the warm side.
The wind always shifts. Pressure falls as the front approaches and rises after it passes. Temperature and dew point change: they drop behind a cold front and rise behind a warm one.
Watch the wind readout and the chart as the front crosses.
The worst flying is right at a cold front: gusts, storms and wind shear. A warm front means a long spell of low ceilings and poor visibility. Air behind a cold front is clear but often gusty.
Find the time when the go/no-go turns green again.
Practice questions written for this app.