Cold Front - Precipitation

Precipitation

A cold front commonly brings a narrow band of precipitation that follows along the leading edge of the cold front. These bands of precipitation are often very strong in nature, and can bring severe thunderstorms, hailstorms and/or tornadoes. In the spring, these cold fronts can be very strong, and can bring strong winds when the pressure gradient is tighter than normal. During the winter months, cold fronts sometimes come through an area with little or no precipitation. Wider rain bands can occur behind cold fronts which tend to have more stratiform, and less convective, precipitation. These rainstorms sometimes bring flooding, and can move very slowly when the storm steering it is strong and embedded within a meridional flow pattern (with more pole to equator motion rather than west to east motion). In the winter, cold fronts can bring cold spells, and occasionally snow. In the spring or summer in temperate latitudes, hail may occasionally fall along with the rain. If moisture is not sufficient, such as when a system has previously moved across a mountain barrier, cold fronts can pass without cloudiness.

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