How is there daily temperature fluctuation in places where the sun doesn’t set?

Question

I understand weather might change day to day but looking at a temperature/time graph of Svalbard (that won’t have a sunset for a few months) I was surprised to see that the coolest point of the day is still 3:00AM and the hottest at 2:00PM – a pattern that matches places with regular sunsets and sunrises

In: 1

Answer 1

The sun doesn’t set, but it does go down. That change of angle puts more atmosphere between you and the sun for a few hours, even though it doesn’t go below the horizon.