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Clouds restrict cooling at night because they absorb longwave radiation emitted by the surface and lower atmosphere and re-emit a significant portion back.
The criterion selected for defining significant restriction of radiational cooling is whether there will be 3 or more hours of at least broken clouds (i.e., 75% cloud cover) in the 6 hours preceeding 12Z (i.e., for 7Z, 8Z, ........, 12Z). To see how cloudiness is reported on a station plot on a weather map, click on "Cover" below.
Cloud Cover Cover Example of Clouds Inhibiting Radiational Cooling Cool
