Question 1260Navigation General

The correct answer is A) cold front. The description provided - gusty winds shifting clockwise, a rapid drop in temperature, thunderstorms or rain squalls, followed by a rise in pressure and clearing skies - is characteristic of the passage of a cold front in the Northern Hemisphere. Cold fronts are defined as the leading edge of a mass of cold, dense air that displaces the warmer, less dense air ahead of it, resulting in the weather pattern described. The other options are incorrect because: B) a warm front would not typically have the rapid drop in temperature and clearing skies; C) an anticyclone (high pressure system) would not have the thunderstorms and rain/snow squalls; and D) a tropical cyclone (hurricane) has a distinctly different weather pattern not matching the details provided.