Query: The public understand it, in that if  you get a fall evening or spring evening and the sky is clear the heat  will escape and the temperature will drop and you get frost.

Relevant passages:
Passive solar building design <=SEP=> In passive solar building design , windows , walls , and floors are made to collect , store , and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer . This is called passive solar design because , unlike active solar heating systems , it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices .   The key to design a passive solar building is to best take advantage of the local climate performing an accurate site analysis . Elements to be considered include window placement and size , and glazing type , thermal insulation , thermal mass , and shading . Passive solar design techniques can be applied most easily to new buildings , but existing buildings can be adapted or `` retrofitted '' .

Thunderstorm <=SEP=> A thunderstorm , also known as an electrical storm , lightning storm , or thundershower , is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth 's atmosphere , known as thunder . Thunderstorms occur in association with a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus . They are usually accompanied by strong winds , heavy rain , and sometimes snow , sleet , hail , or , in contrast , no precipitation at all . Thunderstorms may line up in a series or become a rainband , known as a squall line . Strong or severe thunderstorms , known as supercells , rotate as do cyclones . While most thunderstorms move with the mean wind flow through the layer of the troposphere that they occupy , vertical wind shear sometimes causes a deviation in their course at a right angle to the wind shear direction .   Thunderstorms result from the rapid upward movement of warm , moist air , sometimes along a front . As the warm , moist air moves upward , it cools , condenses , and forms a cumulonimbus cloud that can reach heights of over 20 km . As the rising air reaches its dew point temperature , water vapor condenses into water droplets or ice , reducing pressure locally within the thunderstorm cell . Any precipitation falls the long distance through the clouds towards the Earth 's surface . As the droplets fall , they collide with other droplets and become larger . The falling droplets create a downdraft as it pulls cold air with it , and this cold air spreads out at the Earth 's surface , occasionally causing strong winds that are commonly associated with thunderstorms .   Thunderstorms can form and develop in any geographic location but most frequently within the mid-latitude , where warm , moist air from tropical latitudes collides with cooler air from polar latitudes . Thunderstorms are responsible for the development and formation of many severe weather phenomena . Thunderstorms , and the phenomena that occur along with them , pose great hazards . Damage that results from thunderstorms is mainly inflicted by downburst winds , large hailstones , and flash flooding caused by heavy precipitation . Stronger thunderstorm cells are capable of producing tornadoes and waterspouts .   There are four types of thunderstorms : single-cell , multi-cell cluster , multi-cell lines , and supercells . Supercell thunderstorms are the strongest and the most associated with severe weather phenomena . Mesoscale convective systems formed by favorable vertical wind shear within the tropics and subtropics can be responsible for the development of hurricanes . Dry thunderstorms , with no precipitation , can cause the outbreak of wildfires from the heat generated from the cloud-to-ground lightning that accompanies them . Several means are used to study thunderstorms : weather radar , weather stations , and video photography . Past civilizations held various myths concerning thunderstorms and their development as late as the 18th century . Beyond the Earth 's atmosphere , thunderstorms have also been observed on the planets of Jupiter , Saturn , Neptune , and , probably , Venus .

Precipitation <=SEP=> In meteorology , precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity . The main forms of precipitation include drizzle , rain , sleet , snow , graupel and hail . Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor , so that the water condenses and `` precipitates '' . Thus , fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions , because the water vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate . Two processes , possibly acting together , can lead to air becoming saturated : cooling the air or adding water vapor to the air . Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud . Short , intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called `` showers . ''   Moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain . This process is typically active when freezing rain is occurring . A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain and serves as the foci for forcing and rising air . Provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content , the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds , namely stratus and cumulonimbus . Eventually , the cloud droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops and descend toward the Earth where they will freeze on contact with exposed objects . Where relatively warm water bodies are present , for example due to water evaporation from lakes , lake-effect snowfall becomes a concern downwind of the warm lakes within the cold cyclonic flow around the backside of extratropical cyclones . Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy . Thundersnow is possible within a cyclone 's comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands . In mountainous areas , heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation . On the leeward side of mountains , desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating . The movement of the monsoon trough , or intertropical convergence zone , brings rainy seasons to savannah climes .   Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle , and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet . Approximately 505000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year ; 398000 km3 of it over the oceans and 107000 km3 over land . Given the Earth 's surface area , that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 mm , but over land it is only 715 mm . Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes .   Precipitation may occur on other celestial bodies , e.g. when it gets cold , Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost , rather than rain or snow .