Why is the days warmest temperature usually a couple of hours after noon, when the sun is highest in the sky, and the coldest temperture usually just after the sun comes up in the morning?
The easiest way to understand whate happens is to first just think of the air that’s staying in place; we won’t consider what happens when cold or warm air move in. This can change the general picture. Then, let’s think of the air in any place as being like a bank account. If you add money to a bank account, it grows. If you add heat to air it warms up. The Earth is always losing heat, like a bank account that you’re always taking some money from. If the amount of heat arriving from the sun is exactly equal to the amount leaving, the temperature stays the same. As the sun climbs higher into the sky on a sunny day, the balance tips to more heat arriving than leaving. This is like adding money to the account faster than you are withdrawing it. The air grows warmer and warmer. At non the day, the amount of heat arriving is greatest. But, even after the sun begins to dip lower in the sky, the amount of heat arriving is more than the amount leaving. It’s like continuing to add more money to
Related Questions
- Why is the days warmest temperature usually a couple of hours after noon, when the sun is highest in the sky, and the coldest temperture usually just after the sun comes up in the morning?
- What causes the sun to be higher in the sky at noon in the summer?
- When does the noon time sun reach the highest point of the year?
