On the eastern slopes of the mountains, the air is warmed as it descends dry-adiabatically. As it flows over the cold and often snow-covered land surface east of the mountains, the warm mP air becomes stable in the lower layers. The flying conditions in mP air east of the Rocky Mountains are in general the best that are experienced in winter. Relatively large diurnal temperature ranges are observed. Turbulence is almost absent and visibility is good, except for the smoke and haze in industrial areas.
Ceilings are generally unlimited, since either no clouds or only a few high clouds are present.
This type of mild winter weather occasionally spreads eastward to the Atlantic coast. When mP air crosses the Rocky Mountains and encounters a deep, dense dome of cP air, it is forced to overrun it and results in storm con-ditions that produce blizzards over the plains states. Integrated Publishing's Official Web Page Click here for a current index of everything on this web site. All Rights Reserved.