MACON, Ga. — We’ve had a couple of chilly mornings over the last few days thanks to that strong cold front that pushed its way through Central Georgia on Saturday.
On Sunday, we hit a low of only 44 degrees just before sunrise. The reason that the lowest temperatures occur right before sunrise has to do with solar heating and radiation.
The Earth and the Sun both emit heat from their surfaces. When the sun sets, we lose the heat from the sun, but the Earth continues to exert its heat into the atmosphere.
Moments before sunrise is when we hit the lowest amount of solar radiation because the sun has not transferred an additional heat in our area in hours.
When the sun rises, the solar radiation returns and temperatures start to climb.
So for Tuesday, you can expect a low temperature in the mid 40s right before sunrise.