The Sun: Man's Friend & Foe

"We think that the Sun watcher is not a good man. He was wrong last year. The Hopi think that is why we had so much cold this winter and no snow."

- Crow Wing

Weather is a result of the interaction of earth's atmosphere and the Sun. Without the Sun there would be no weather. Light from the Sun is the energy which fuels the rain, fog, snow, hail, and thunder. Every type of weather occurs because the heat of the Sun keeps the atmosphere constantly in motion. But the power of the Sun's rays to heat the air varies across the world. All these variations depend on the Sun's height in the sky. It changes not only with the seasons but on a daily basis.

When the Sun is high in the sky, its rays strike the ground directly and its heat is at its maximum. When it is low in the sky, the Sun's rays strike the ground at less of an angle, and the heat is spread out over a wider area. It is because of these variations that we get hot weather and cold weather, hot places, and cold places.

In most of the world, Sunny weather usually means cloudless skies. In the Sahara Desert, the Sun is covered by clouds only a few days out of the entire year. Clouds form only when there is enough moisture in the air. If the air is dry, clouds cannot form and if they appear in dry areas they are usually blown in from other locations by the wind and begin gradually shrinking. This usually makes people happy as they like nice warm weather. Which in turn makes the weatherman happy because he has good news to give to people.

But the Sun can also be a foe to the weatherman. During the winter months or during a period of especially stormy weather weathermen are not especially popular.