system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why do storms seem to be worse at night?

Whenever there is a thunderstorm, hurricane, or especially snowstorm, why does it seem the worst of it is always overnight?

I live in New England and snow is constantly an overnight thing. Is it just coincidence?
gpt
Reposted out of the buried thread at someone's request:  
  
Convection in the atmosphere comes from the air at the bottom being warm enough (compared to the air at the top) to force overturning, kind of like bringing a pot of water to boil. You can achieve this effect by heating the bottom or cooling the top (or both). Lake-effect snow, for example, is caused by frigid air moving over a relatively warmer lake surface, where the air warmed by the lake experiences sudden buoyancy and rises, triggering the formation of clouds and snow.  
The atmosphere is typically moist near the surface (where the water source is) and dry aloft. The interface between dry and moist air can be particularly sharp. When the sun sets, water droplets in the moist air radiate heat in all directions, and the heat radiated upward is not compensated for by heat radiating back down, because the air is dry above. This causes a net loss of radiation at the top of the moist layer, cooling the air. Cooling aloft while leaving the surface the way it is means you are "cooling the top", and the warmer air at the surface experiences buoyancy and starts to rise.