The air further up in the atmosphere does not warm up as effectively , which results in temperatures decreasing as you ascend from the surface. This happens (as an example) during the day when valleys are warmer than their surrounding hills.
Why is it colder in valleys?
Air molecules don't move around as much in cold air. They are packed more tightly together. ... As the ground begins to radiate heat into the atmosphere, the air temperature cools and the colder, more dense air slides down the mountain slopes into the valley below.
Why are valleys colder at night?
Since colder air is denser it will have a tendency to sink to the lower elevations in the valley . If the higher elevations are orientated so that they block the early morning and late afternoon sun, this can result in longer nights and cooler temperatures.
Are valleys colder than mountains?
If you've ever driven up to a mountain pass, you know that the higher you climb, the colder it gets. But on clear, calm days, it can actually be colder in the valleys . That's because under high-pressure systems, cold air slides down mountain slopes and pools down below.
Why is the land colder than the water at night?
During the day, the land surface heats up faster than the water surface. Therefore, the air above the land is warmer than the air above the ocean. ... Recall that the land surface cools quicker than the water surface at night. Therefore, the warmer air over the ocean is buoyant and is rising.
Why do valleys get so hot?
Why so Hot? The depth and shape of Death Valley influence its summer temperatures . The valley is a long, narrow basin 282 feet (86 m) below sea level, yet is walled by high, steep mountain ranges. ... These moving masses of super heated air blow through the valley creating extreme high temperatures.
Do valleys get colder?
The temperature is often warmer during the day in the valley since the elevation is lower. Air that sinks into the valley will also warm due to adiabatic descent. During the night, the opposite can occur. Since colder air is denser it will have a tendency to sink to the lower elevations in the valley.
Are valleys warmer than mountains?
Valleys are almost always warmer than nearby mountaintops , and coastal cities are warmer than mountains. High-pressure weather systems bring warmer days than low-pressure systems. An additional cooling mechanism in the mountains is adiabatic cooling.
Are valleys hotter than mountains?
But if you got somewhere which is high up and the air can cool down on the tops of mountains, it's then denser around it and it falls downwards and if it's not falling very far it doesn't compress very much, doesn't get very much hotter so you get, locally very cold air is in bottoms of valleys but globally it's warmer ...
Which part of the mountain is the coldest?
As air rises, the pressure decreases. It is this lower pressure at higher altitudes that causes the temperature to be colder on top of a mountain than at sea level.
How much colder is it at the top of a mountain?
The rate of decline is surprisingly fast: around 1°C for every 100m , and continues all the way up to the so-called tropopause around 12km above the Earth. At these altitudes, barely 10 per cent of the atmosphere remains, and the air pressure is so low that the temperature falls to a lethally cold -55°C.
Why the mountain tops are cooler?
But why should the top of a mountain be colder than the bottom? At the top of a mountain, air cools because as air rises it cools . We all know that warm air rises. ... But when the sun shines on the ground and makes it nice and warm, then the ground warms up the air.
Why is the top of the mountain colder when it's closer to the sun?
When the air is high on the mountain, it spreads out. This is like your big square. The same amount of heat is now in a bigger space, so it is more spread out. So the air is colder on top of mountains because there is less air pressure .
Is the beach cold at night?
When the Sun hits the dirt, it heats up the top layer. ... The heat that the ocean absorbs is mixed with the lower water quickly. That mixing spreads the heat around. At night, while the land cools off quickly , the water at the surface is kept warmer because the water is mixed around with the warmer water underneath.
Why are lower latitudes warmer?
Because the angle of radiation varies depending on the latitude, surface temperatures on average are warmer at lower latitudes and cooler at higher latitudes (even though higher latitudes have more hours of daylight during the summer months).
What is the hottest layer in the atmosphere?
The thermosphere is often considered the “hot layer” because it contains the warmest temperatures in the atmosphere. Temperature increases with height until the estimated top of the thermosphere at 500 km. Temperatures can reach as high as 2000 K or 1727 oC in this layer (Wallace and Hobbs 24).
