From an analysis point of view, the meteorologist needs to keep in mind that any front, including a cold front, is a three-dimensional structure that must extend to 850 mb. The cold front plotted on a surface map is merely the footprint of that 3D structure. Early in the morning, as surface temperatures drop toward their diurnal minimum, the surface baroclinicity will weaken making it difficult for the meteorologist to tell where the front is located based solely on surface data. Aloft, near-surface conditions will also have changed, but perhaps not to the degree they have at the surface.

What this means is that the baroclinic forcing associated with the front may weaken during the early morning hours then strengthen again as the day progresses. Any precipitation associated with the front picked up by radar could also show this same progression, weakening in the early morning, then strengthening again during the afternoon. Such changes will likely be very subtle and should not be confused with the impacts of other physical processes.