Lesson 14: Synoptic Scale Background

Characteristics of a Filling System

In a weaking system, or filling, the comma cloud system loese it orgainzation; showing signs of eroding and separating from the frontal cloud band. Filling systems often exhibit one or more of these features:

1. Comma cloud head becomes detached from the cloud band,
2. Cloudiness in the comma cloud decreases and thins,
3. The frontal cloud becomes thin, or the cloud tops warm,
4. A ring of middle and high clouds encircles the cyclone center, inidcating that the minima central pressure has been reasched.

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