Cloud cover plays a crucial role in determining temperatures

According to NASA, 2/3's of the Earth is actually covered with cloud cover any given time. Cloud cover can actually determine our temperatures, whether they increase or decrease, depending on two primary factors.

The first one is going to be the cloud height, and the second one is going to be the timing of the day. When diving deeper into cloud heights, clouds located at higher heights are actually most likely to allow for slight increases in temperatures at the surface. This is because these clouds don't filter as much radiant energy from the sun, but are effective at preventing thermal heat from getting back past them after hitting the Earth's surface, acting as a loose insulator.

Clouds providing rain, like that at which we see this Wednesday are actually going to be those lower level clouds that are a little bit darker, which means that they don't allow that sunlight back down to the actual surface of the earth, which means that we're gonna be looking cooler.

Just earlier Wednesday, temperatures were back towards the mid-70s. Heading into the later afternoon hours, temperatures have cooled into the mid-60s. The timing of the day also plays an important factor.

During the daylight hours, most cloud cover will look to cool surface temperatures, but at night, clouds can allow for increased temperatures at the surface since they prevent radiant heat from the surface, which was warm by the sun during the day, to leave our atmosphere.

A good way to think of this is clouds acting like a blanket. So if you want warmer nights, you're gonna want some lower level cloud cover back overhead.