Fronts

You often hear television meteorologists talk about warm and cold fronts, and a good number of viewers understand what they are. They are boundaries separating a warmer air mass from a colder one. One has warm air behind it (warm front), while the other has cold air behind it (cold front). But did you know that we sometimes struggle with what to call a front for television purposes? (Well, at least I do!) For example, today there was a strong area of low pressure in western North Dakota with a trailing warm front extending southeastward through parts of Minnesota, Iowa, and into central Illinois. But the southeastern tail of this front (the portion of it that lay just to our south in central IL) really wasn't moving. Therefore, it is technically a stationary front even though I reffered to it on-air as a warm front a few times. However, this portion of the front *will begin to move* northeastward on Wednesday, which will redefine it as a true warm front. After it does pass north of the Stateline on Wednesday, we will see our temperatures climb into the upper 70s. Even an 80 degree reading in a few spots is possible. --TS