What is the symbol for a Surface Cold Front on a SIGWX chart?

• A. Severe Aircraft Icing
• B. Volcanic Eruption
• C. Surface Cold Front
• D. Tropopause LOW

Answer: (C)

A surface cold front on SIGWX charts is shown with a solid blue line that has a strip of small blue triangles along it, pointing in the direction the front is moving. The triangles indicate the advancing colder air mass replacing warmer air, and this symbol is how meteorologists distinguish cold fronts from other front types (warm fronts use red lines with semicircles, occluded fronts use a purple line with triangles and semicircles). This symbol helps pilots anticipate weather changes and possible precipitation along and ahead of the front. The other items aren’t front symbols: severe icing isn’t depicted as a blue triangular line, volcanic eruption is shown as a ash-cloud feature if present, and a tropopause low is an upper-atmosphere concept not represented by a surface-front symbol.