What is the basic difference between a cold front and a dry line?

A dryline is defined simply as a boundary between airmasses that have similar temperatures, but different moisture levels. It’s different from a front (like warm front or cold front) in that one airmass isn’t blasting the other one out of the way, nor does the boundary have much if any thermal gradient.

Where do dry lines occur?

The dry line usually only happens in the middle of the country. It is most commonly found in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska in the spring and summer. Dry lines are extremely rare in other parts of the country.

How do dry lines move?

A typical dry line passage results in a sharp drop in humidity (hence the name), clearing skies, and a wind shift from south or southeasterly to west or southwesterly. (Blowing dust and rising temperatures also may follow, especially if the dry line passes during the daytime.

What is the Texas dry line?

A dry line (also called a dew point line, or Marfa front, after Marfa, Texas) is a line across a continent that separates moist air and dry air. The dry line is an important factor in severe weather frequency in the Great Plains of North America.

What does a dry line look like?

Dry Line: a moisture boundary. A dry line is a boundary that separates a moist air mass from a dry air mass. Also called a “Dew Point Front”, sharp changes in dew point temperature can be observed across a dry line. It is not uncommon for tornadic supercells to develop along a dry line.

What causes a dry line?

Storms develop along a dryline because the dry air behind the boundary is less dense than the moisture-rich air ahead of it. Sometimes a dryline is overtaken by the advancing cold front located to its west.

What does a dry line indicate?

Dry Line – a boundary separating moist and dry air masses. It typically lies north-south across the central and southern high Plains states during the spring and early summer, where it separates moist air from the Gulf of Mexico (to the east) and dry desert air from the southwestern states (to the west).

How do you identify a dry line?

You can also identify a dry line by looking at a graphical depiction of the dewpoint. Another way to identify a dry line is with the weather associated with the east and west sides. You can expect a dry line to have cumuliform-type clouds with extensive vertical development on the east side.

Is a dryline a front?

A dryline is also called a Dew Point Front. Sharp changes in dew point temperature can be found across a dryline (sometimes 9 degrees Celsius per kilometer).

What happens when you cross the dryline?

A strong temperature difference across the dryline leads to a stronger difference in the depth of vertical mixing, a stronger vertical circulation, stronger convergence, and thus a stronger horizontal moisture gradient.

Why are dry lines not considered a front?

Figure 1. Description of Dryline. Drylines are NOT considered fronts because they do not have one direction of motion. However, they can spark thunderstorms if there is enough moisture in the air, just like a front. Drylines act as a lifting mechanism to create showers and thunderstorms.

Where is the dry line in the United States?

It typically lies north-south across the central and southern high Plains states during the spring and early summer, where it separates moist air from the Gulf of Mexico (to the east) and dry desert air from the southwestern states (to the west). The dry line typically advances eastward during the afternoon and retreats westward at night.

When do drylines occur in the Great Plains?

Drylines are a unique mesoscale weather phenomenon that occur mainly in the western Great Plains of the United States during the spring and summer. Basically, a dryline is a separation line between two different air mass boundaries. The air mass on the west side of the dryline is dry, continental air…

What kind of air is on the dryline?

Basically, a dryline is a separation line between two different air mass boundaries. The air mass on the west side of the dryline is dry, continental air (usually from the Rockie Mountains or the desert southwest), while the air mass east of the dryline is maritime, tropical air (usually from the Gulf of Mexico). Figure 1.