Stationary front
A stationary front (or quasi-stationary front) is a weather front or transition zone between two air masses when each air mass is advancing into the other at speeds less than 5 knots (about 6 miles per hour or about 9 kilometers per hour) at the ground surface. On weather maps, it is illustrated as a solid line of alternating blue spikes pointing to the warmer air mass and red domes facing the colder air mass.
Development
A stationary front may form when a cold or warm front slows down or grows over time from underlying surface temperature differences, like a coastal front. Winds on the cold air and warm air sides often flow nearly parallel to the stationary front, often in opposite directions along either side of the stationary front. A stationary front usually remains in the same area for hours to days and may undulate as atmospheric waves move eastward along the front.
Stationary fronts may also change into a cold or warm front and may form one or more extratropical or mid-latitude cyclones at the surface when atmospheric waves aloft are fiercer, cold or warm air masses advance fast enough into other air masses at the surface. For instance, when a cold air mass traverses sufficiently quick into a warm air mass, the stationary front changes into a cold front.
Characteristics
Although the stationary front's position may not move, there is air motion as warm air rises up and over the cold air, responsive to the
Stationary fronts may dissipate after several days or devolve into