7 x 9-1/2"
Ink drawing printed over watercolor

Maritime Tropical Air Mass

The main masses of air, in which we shiver or sweat, are either tropical or polar and either continental or maritime.

Warm and humid, maritime tropical air hangs over the waters of the Carribean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Western Atlantic Ocean.

Creeping north to oppress the southeast United States, it is eventually confronted by dense, polar air, which pushes it upward and out of the way. The air cools as it rises, its water vapor condenses, and the energy from the condensation pushes it still higher, building big hard-edged cumulus clouds.

Given enough heat and moisture, these peaceful looking clouds produce updrafts powerful enough to overcome gravity and lift a man and his parachute upward in the rain,