Inversion:

 

Living at 9,800 feet elevation we get to look out our front window and see layers of pink and blue skies, or temperature inversion. Our early mornings and late afternoons show this change of coloration explicitly. 

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We are on the edge of a large valley that is seen from outer space - San Luis Valley - and the daytime sun warms the valley but when it cools off at night the temperatures drop and the warm air rises. Carol went to town yesterday and the temperature in the morning was 34 degrees but when she came to the lower elevation the temperature at the front gate just 8-9 miles away was 5 degrees. 

People who move here often wonder why it is so much warmer at this elevation than it is in the valley. It is because of temperature inversion. After 23+ years here we are still amazed at this phenomena. 

 The pink is the warmer air and the blue is colder air. The warm air rises as the colder air sinks. We have a small A-Frame cabin and we can feel it in the cabin. The lighter warm air raises as the cold air near the peak of the roof sinks but after the heaters and wood stove are going for a while we manage to reach a comfortable equilibrium. We are able to experience this inversion from the small scale in our cabin to the broad spectrum as far as the eye can see. 

When it is super cold in the valley it is therefore warm in the higher elevations.