Backdoor Cold Front

A backdoor cold front, or backdoor front, is a cold front moving south or southwest along the northeast of the Atlantic seaboard in North America, particularly in the northeast U.S. and the Great Lakes. Typically occurring in spring, the front drives cool Atlantic air from the east or northeast into northeastern US that supersedes the warmer continental air. The front is termed "backdoor" because it arrives from the east, meaning it originates from the opposite direction of a typical cold front and therefore comes through the region's "back door."

Formation

A backdoor cold front occurs when the clockwise motion around a high pressure system pulls in colder air toward the south and west of it. This is where a synoptic wind motion creates a wind flow from the cool North Atlantic Ocean that brings in the backdoor front. A cold front, however, approaches from the north, northwest or west, and its wind direction will generally be from those directions (since most weather moves west to east), except this does not happen with a backdoor cold front. Rather, a back door cold front arrives from a particular direction, where it will move in an opposite direction, unlike a regular cold front.

In spring, the Atlantic is still very chilly, and hence the air above it is also cold. That air can move to northeastern US if a large high pressure area is anchored in the Canadian Maritimes or the northern states. The high pressure system's clockwise flow directs cold moist air southward and westward into Northeast US. The area where these two airmasses collide is illustrated by the frontal boundary in Northern New England (near the Gulf of Maine) and northern New Jersey. Low clouds develop along and behind the front. As a backdoor cold front withdraws, temperatures can rise rapidly.

Characteristics

Backdoor fronts would point toward the southeast direction, but they can alter, such as an east–west emplacement or may move towards the northeast if the cold front is encircling a subtropical cyclone. The leading boundary of this cold air forms a cold front, which is typically represented on surface analysis charts as a front aligned roughly east-west. The backdoor cold front may move towards the southwest or west. Heatwaves are frequently ended by a backdoor front – This is when temperatures are around , which is warm for May standards, whereby the front will lower the temperature down to around by the next day.BACK DOOR COLD FRONT
Jeffy Habby from The Weather Prediction.com

During the spring months, when the cooling effect is increased by the winter water temperature of the Atlantic Ocean, backdoor fronts can drop temperatures by more than in just a few hours, because their force is assisted by the cold, oceanic airmass that lies over the cold north Atlantic waters. They are mostly shallow, with much of the maritime air only reaching a few thousand feet aboveground and thus would rarely pass the Appalachian Mountains. The clouds associated with the backdoor cold front stretch from southern Illinois to North Carolina. Low clouds develop along and behind the front because such the front's winds usually come from the ocean, in addition to scattered showers, although the precipitation is mist and drizzle. Its effects may last a few hours or a couple of days, depending on the system.

Backdoor fronts are generally welcomed, particularly on a hot summer day, when humid air from the Gulf of Mexico has engulfed the eastern United States. When a backdoor front pushes the warm, convective flow back to the South, the outcome is purer skies, lower temperatures and less humidity.

Areas affected

Back door cold fronts are common from New England to Virginia, due to cold Atlantic water lingering near the coast. They impact Boston, New York City, the Jersey shore, and New England, though they at times may reach as far inland as Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC. The warm Gulf Stream prevents the cool onshore flow of the front, so states below North Carolina are shielded. Backdoor fronts can create contrasting temperatures between the seaboard and inland areas – For instance, Philadelphia may experience cloudy skies with temperatures hovering between , whilst Pittsburgh, which is around to the west, will experience mild and sunny conditions with temperatures often pushing .

Notable example

On 27 May 2014, Boston struggled to reach , when it was two days earlier. Worcester set a record low-maximum on the 28th when it had a high of , which was below the average high of . In New York City, also on the 27th, the mercury plummeted from a high of to the next day. Between May 28 and 29, maximum temperatures dropped from to at Harrisburg, PA and from down to in Washington, DC.Backdoor Cold Front: 40's in Late May?
Mike Murphy from Weather Works. August 6, 2014.

See also

* Southerly buster
* Fremantle Doctor
*Cape Doctor

References

{{ClimateUS
Winds
Climate of the United States
Weather events in the United States
Atlantic Ocean
Northeastern United States
Weather fronts
Cold
Climate of Massachusetts