Cold front explainer

A front is a boundary between air masses. There are different types of air masses, based on moisture content and general temperature, continental, maritime, tropical, polar, arctic. Pressure systems move air masses around and we represent the air masses moving with fronts. Cold fronts generally separate on temperature but can separate moisture content if the air masses originated from different areas. Right now we likely have a maritime tropical air mass over us, but we are likely getting a continental polar air mass. This doesn’t mean we’re going to be expecting polar temperatures, it's just going to be cooler than we have seen.

With the air mass behind the cold front having a continental origin, we’re expecting less humid conditions, since it has a different density than the previous air mass that is currently over us, these showers are really going to be getting a lot of our moisture out of our area. Fronts are mainly lifting mechanisms, especially cold fronts, which is why we’ve been seeing a lot of clouds. We are expecting sunnier weather as we go through the next week, and cooler weather, with the air mass originating from a little further north. All of these factors will contribute to a calmer week for Michiana.