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dryline

The leading edge of a significant density/dewpoint discontinuity forced by foehn winds off the Rockies, usually ahead of a significant synoptic scale system moving through the West/Southwest. They usually progress eastward during the heating of the day, and westward at night. A tight 14C (25F), or a broader 17C (30F), dewpoint gradient is used to help determine the existence of a dryline. The dryline does not have to be the leading edge of all the change in the dewpoint, merely where the best gradient/leading edge of foehn winds exists. A dryline as drawn as a brown line with scallops facing into the moist air mass. This is a land based weather pattern, without marine equivalent.


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