What happens to pressure with the passage of a cold front?

When a cold front passes, the atmospheric pressure first decreases as the warm air ahead of the front rises due to the advancing colder and denser air. This rising of warm air results in a drop in surface pressure. Subsequently, as the cold front moves through and the colder air replaces the warm air, pressure begins to rise steadily. This pattern of first decreasing and then increasing pressure is typical during the passage of a cold front, reflecting the dynamic changes in the atmosphere as different air masses interact.

Other trends such as continuous increases or constant pressure do not accurately describe the behavior of pressure around cold fronts. Fluctuations without a clear trend would not convey the systematic pressure changes associated with the frontal passage. Thus, understanding the typical decrease followed by an increase in pressure provides insight into weather patterns and helps pilots anticipate changes in atmospheric conditions during flight operations.