Why temp drop at sunrise?

[Capstone]

Always notice it hunting. Went from 32 to 30 as the sun came up. Back to 32 now.

[James]

Seems like that every morning to me I just figured a little wind always starts as the sun rises but I don't know.

[bsimm78]

I'll bet Professor Google knows the answer

[Tmag]

Here you go.

The air near the Earth's surface cools at night in response to the loss of
"heat" energy from the ground and from the air above it. This cooling
begins even before sunset as the loss of energy from the ground and air becomes
greater than the input of energy from the setting Sun, and then continues all
night. Actually, the lowest air temperature tends to occur within the hour
after sunrise, before the input of energy from the Sun equals the continuing
loss of energy from the ground and the air. About an hour after sunrise,
the input of energy from the Sun to the ground and the air equals the loss
of energy from them; as the ground warms, it heats up and it releases energy
to the air above more rapidly, and in combination with warming of the air
directly by the Sun, the air temperature begins to rise.

To go into more detail, there are two factors that contribute to reduced
temperatures at night. The first is the most important, by far.

First, virtually all nighttime cooling of the air (the mechanism spoken of
above) is caused by what meteorologists call "radiational cooling" of the
atmosphere. Long-wave energy from the Earth's surface and the air above it
radiates into the upper part of the atmosphere and even to space, at all times
of the day. However, at night, the input of energy from the Sun is missing,
and therefore the radiational loss of long-wave energy results in a reduction
of the ground surface and the air temperature of the lower atmosphere, including

air near the surface. The longer the night is, the more cooling can occur.
The closer it is to sunrise, the lower the air temperature tends to become.
This cooling is especially strong if there are no clouds and the water vapor
content
of the air is small (in other words, there is little water vapor to absorb the
energy). However, If condensation occurs on the surface (dew or frost forms,
which
results in the release of energy to the air), the rate of cooling of the
ground and air is somewhat reduced. Radiational cooling is the overriding
means by which the air is cooled and temperature decreases at night (aside
from a cold front passage).

Second, the Solar Semi-diurnal Tide can cause a small decrease in atmospheric
pressure during nighttime, with a minimum of pressure being reached a few
hours before sunrise. As the Sun heats the atmosphere, (particularly the upper
parts of the atmosphere, where ozone and water vapor are very effective at
absorbing energy), and the Earth rotates, the mass of air is redistributed on
the Earth. The heated, expanded atmosphere literally pushes air ahead of the
rising Sun in a bi-modal wave, causing peaks and valleys of pressure, and
resulting in a slightly decreased pressure a few hours before sunrise; the
decrease in pressure can translate to a slightly decreased air temperature.
These decreases are often too small to be detected amongst the usually much
greater synoptic weather changes unless the observation point is a place on
Earth
(such as part of the year in Niger, Africa) where synoptic weather patterns do
not
mask it. I've seen the nighttime decrease in pressure from the Solar
Semi-diurnal Tide in Niger and also under conditions of a very large and stable
high pressure area in Oklahoma; the Solar Semi-diurnal Tide is particularly
distinct in Niger and contributes in a very small way to decreased nighttime
temperatures; the contribution to the temperature decrease is very hard to detect,
even in Niger,
and is not important in comparison to the radiational cooling mechanism.

As a point of information, the Solar Semi-diurnal pressure wave produces a
minimum
pressure and a maximum pressure twice a day; minimums occur about three hours
before sunrise and a few hours before sunset; maximums occur a few hours after
sunrise and a few hours after sunset.

Radiational cooling is the over-riding mechanism by which the air is cooled at
night
and the surface temperature thereby decreases.

David R. Cook
Meteorologist
Climate Research Section
Environmental Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory

[DrenalinJunkie]

^^^^ this

[pblaetz]

Could be thermals.....as the air nearer the ground warms and rises, the cooler air falls????????

[stuntriderant]

Chupacabras tend to sleep during the day so at sunrise they are falling into a deep sleep. There demon bodies put off so much heat when active. As they fall asleep they signifigantly cool down and so does the temperature............ Hell, I dont know!

[James]

Good to know TMag

[Capstone]

Could be thermals.....as the air nearer the ground warms and rises, the cooler air falls????????

^^^
I wonder if this is it? Good info Tmag and that explains why it gets colder at night and why it is coldest just before the sun begins to warm things up. What I have noticed seems like an immediate cooling effect as the sun is rising ( best experienced when under dressed sitting in an open tripod or ground blind ). It's not just the wind. This morning there was no wind and noticed the cooling.

[VorTexan]

It didn't take me long to realize this as a young hunter! For years I thought it was mental thing as you would anticipate the sunrise but then get colder as it actually started to reveal itself. I'm sure there is a hunter term for this if not...let's see what we can come up with?

[Skinny]

It didn't take me long to realize this as a young hunter! For years I thought it was mental thing as you would anticipate the sunrise but then get colder as it actually started to reveal itself. I'm sure there is a hunter term for this if not...let's see what we can come up with?

^^^^^This is what my Dad told me as a kid sitting in a 4'x4' box blind with him as I ate my apple and Baby Ruth. I would always get cold right as the sun started peeking over the horizon.

[HoffDawg]

Chupacabras tend to sleep during the day so at sunrise they are falling into a deep sleep. There demon bodies put off so much heat when active. As they fall asleep they signifigantly cool down and so does the temperature............ Hell, I dont know!

BEST ANSWER!!!!!!!!

[VorTexan]

mamammaamma say dat' the temperature drops "due" to de little angels flying back to heaven after protecting us all night when the rays of sunshine shine down on us.

[rhodes520]

mamammaamma say dat' the temperature drops "due" to de little angels flying back to heaven after protecting us all night when the rays of sunshine shine down on us.

Weeellllll, Mama's wrong again.

[native_texan]

^^^^ this

10-4 ....And we should not forget that "... it's always darkest before the dawn."