Nighttime cooling sets up a temperature inversion, a situation in which cooler, denser air collects at the ground while milder temperatures prevail above. Such inversions effectively shunt large-scale, organized winds away from the surface, forcing organized winds aloft.

Why is there more wind at night?

In the morning, when sunlight returns and begins to warm the surface layer, the wind from above gradually builds downward and returns to the surface. At night, winds above the surface layer often increase in strength because its energy is not dissipated by contact with the ground.

Is it usually windier at night?

Why does this effect seem less pronounced in late autumn and winter? As it turns out, the answers are somewhat related to one another. The wind speed tends to decrease after sunset because at night the surface of the Earth cools much more rapidly than does the air above the surface.