Why do frigid mornings keep getting colder after sunrise?
A frosty morning can take a while to heat up, even with bright sunshine
There are few joys on a frigid morning quite like the first hints of warm sunshine peeking through the trees.
But even as daytime kicks away the stillness of the night, temperatures continue to fall for a little while after sunrise. Here’s a look at why this curious phenomenon occurs.
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Temperatures near the surface quickly fall after sunset because heat absorbed by the ground during the day radiates out into the atmosphere once we lose our sunshine.
Radiational cooling is most efficient on a calm, clear night. As long as weather conditions remain favourable, temperatures will continue to gradually fall through the night and into the early morning hours.
Readings even continue to fall after the sun starts coming up. The sun angle is so shallow within the first hour after sunrise that even the brightest sunshine can’t effectively warm up the ground.
As a result, radiational cooling continues for a short period until the sun rises high enough in the sky that insolation heats up the ground and puts an end to radiational cooling.
Header image courtesy of Zetta Bytes/Unsplash.