Plain English Meaning

When a warm air mass slides over a colder one along a front, you end up with cold air near the ground and warmer air above it. That backwards temperature setup is a frontal inversion.

Full Definition

A temperature inversion that occurs at a frontal boundary when a layer of warm air rides up over a layer of colder air near the surface, producing a zone in which temperature increases with altitude instead of decreasing.

Context Anchor

Seen in aviation weather study and weather briefings when fronts, low clouds, fog, or widespread steady are being discussed.