Continental polar (cP) air is considered a cold and dry air mass that is warmer than the arctic air mass located to the north. Maritime tropical (mT) air masses are warm and moist air masses that are ...Continental polar (cP) air is considered a cold and dry air mass that is warmer than the arctic air mass located to the north. Maritime tropical (mT) air masses are warm and moist air masses that are responsible for much of the precipitation east of the Rocky mountains in the United States. Convection and convergence of this air mass in the Intertropical Convergence Zone is one for the reasons for the heavy rainfall experienced in the rain forests of this region.
Radiation and vertical mixing of heat yield an equilibrium between the conditions at the source region and the properties of the overlying air mass after a period of 3 to 5 days. In addition, the subs...Radiation and vertical mixing of heat yield an equilibrium between the conditions at the source region and the properties of the overlying air mass after a period of 3 to 5 days. In addition, the subsidence of the air aloft due to the presence of the subtropical high in this region causes adiabatic warming of the air at higher elevations.
