Stationary front symbol

Meteorological interaction of warm and cool air masses

In meteorology, an occluded front is a type of weather front formed during cyclogenesis.

The classical and usual view of an occluded front is that it starts when a cold front overtakes a warm front near a cyclone, such that the warm air is separated (occluded) from the cyclone center at the surface.

What is an occluded front

The point where the warm front becomes the occluded front is the triple point; a new area of low-pressure that develops at this point is called a triple-point low. A more modern view of the formation process suggests that occluded fronts form directly without the influence of other fronts during the wrap-up of the baroclinic zone during cyclogenesis, and then lengthen due to flow deformation and rotation around the cyclone as the cyclone forms.

Features and variants

Occluded fronts usually form around mature low pressure areas.

There are two types of front occlusions, warm and cold, depending on the temperature contrast:

• In a cold occlusion, the cold air mass that overtakes the warm air
  what best describes how an occluded front is formed
  how does an occluded front form