Dry Lines

Dina, I was studying a little about Dry lines. I was curious, if a dry line is a boundary that separates a dry air mass from a wet airmass, is there also something like a wet line? In other words we identify warm and cold fronts, why don't we also identify dry and wet lines?

Aaron B.

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Dry lines are a great part of severe weather forecasting and the placement of the dry line is a great tool on predicting when and where large storms will fire up.

First of all, Aaron, you seem to know a bit about dry lines but not everyone does, so let's get that out of the way. The dry line is a line that separates warm humid air from hot dry air. As we learned, that warm moist air likes to rise, that's where our storms fire.

A wet line would just be more of a front or a batch of rain. Dry lines are important because along it, storms grow, the placement and forecast of where the dry line will be in the afternoon is essential for severe weather forecasting. If the we were watching a line of moisture move in, we'd be watching a line of rain.

Lines of rain or storms are sometimes called "Squall Lines" and those of course, are imporant indeed! Watching the storms along a squall line is crucial to keep people safe and aware ahead of it.

We can identify dry or wet airmasses by using phrases like "continental air" or "maritime air". These are origins of where that air originated and some links on the right side of the page will help you learn about air masses in general and what makes them so interesting.

Also of note, is a dry line is drawn on a weather map with a bright yellow color, it's not something we see too often in Utah. If you're a weather enthusiast, the dry line is over Texas and Oklahoma pretty often and can travel a hundred miles in a day! It also retrogrades westward at night, something that's still not completely understood and still being studied.

Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman