How can it be sunny and cold at the same time?

Picture a bright winter morning. Sunshine sparkles on the frosty grass. You step outside, and cold air nips your nose and cheeks.

The sky is so sunny, and yet your fingers feel chilly. So how can it be sunny and cold at the same time? Let's find out together.

The sun sends us light, and its light brings warmth. When sunlight lands on the ground, the ground soaks up that warmth. That is why a stone feels warm after a sunny afternoon.

Next, the warm ground warms the air right above it. The air gets its warmth from the ground below. That is how a sunny summer day turns hot.

On a winter day, the sun stays low in the sky, close above the rooftops and trees. Its light cannot shine straight down on us. Instead, it comes in slanting, which means leaning over to one side, like a playground slide.

Let's imagine a flashlight in a dark room. Shine it straight down at the floor, and you see a small, bright circle. Now tip the flashlight so its light comes in slanting. What do you think happens to that bright circle?

The circle grows big and long, and it looks dim. The same light now spreads over a much bigger patch of floor. Each little spot gets less of it.

Slanting winter sunlight does the very same thing. It spreads thin over the snow, the fields and the streets. So each patch of ground gets only a little warmth.

The ground stays chilly, so the air above it stays chilly too. Up in the sky, the sun still glows bright. That is how a day can be sunny and cold together.

The low winter sun shines bright, but its slanting light spreads the warmth too thin. So the ground and the air stay cold.

Out on the frosty grass, the sunshine sparkles. Long, slanting rays stretch across the white fields, and the cold air stays crisp and quiet.