Why cloudy days are warmer

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Join Our Team. Station History. Advertise With Us. Latest Newscasts. Gray DC Bureau. Warm air moved by advection can bring heat into an area that will be held in if there are clouds. High, thin clouds do not hold in heat energy well as lower, thick clouds do. You should be able to see a cloud forming inside of the jar as the warm water evaporates, rises, and condenses onto the particles of confectioner's sugar when it reaches the higher air cooled by the ice.

You may also see the water condense directly onto the sides of the jar or mug instead of onto the particles, but keep in mind that there is no container for real clouds; only dust particles.

This experiment was adapted from Teacher. Ask Science Lions. Little Lion Experiment: In order to see how clouds form on particles in the air, you will need: black sheet of paper glass jar or mug flashlight clear bag with ice confectioner's sugar Steps: Tape a black sheet of paper to one side of a glass jar or mug.

Have an adult boil about a cup of water then fill the jar or mug part of the way with boiling water. Immediately sprinkle a small amount of confectioner's sugar into the top of the jar. Quickly cover the jar with the bag of ice. Turn out the lights and shine the flashlight into the jar. Forecast Tip: When forecasting nighttime temperatures, if cloudy skies are expected, forecast warmer temperatures than you would predict if clear skies were expected.

Terms for using data resources. CD-ROM available. Clouds emit infrared radiation to the efficiently absorbing ground. Meteorologists sometimes refer to infrared energy emitted downward by clouds as downwelling. At night, when cloud coverage increases, downwelling infrared radiation also increases.

So, clouds act like space heaters, emitting energy towards the ground.