polar front

American  

noun

1. Meteorology. the variable frontal zone of middle latitudes separating air masses of polar and tropical origin.

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polar front British  

noun

1. meteorol a front dividing cold polar air from warmer temperate or tropical air

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polar front Scientific  

1. The region or boundary separating air masses of polar origin from those of tropical or subtropical origin. The position of the polar front during winter in a particular hemisphere is at approximately 30° latitude, while in the summer it is at approximately 60° latitude. The convergence of warm and cool air masses along the polar front often produces cyclonic wind systems.

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Etymology

Origin of polar front

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

The polar front doesn’t stay in the same place every year.

From Science Magazine

If they can’t reach this polar front and can’t swim back within about a week, their chicks will starve to death.

From New York Times

Their little chicks fast for more than a week while they forage for fish and krill in the waters of the Antarctic polar front, an upwelling where cold, deep seas mix with more temperate seas.

From New York Times

As the ocean warms a body of water called the Antarctic polar front – an upwelling of nutrient rich sea that supports huge abundance of marine life – is being pushed further south.

From The Guardian

The lanternfishes congregate in an ocean region called the polar front, where cold polar water meets the warmer tropical water, creating a sharp temperature gradient.

From Scientific American