Frequent lurker...infrequent poster...as a curious observer of tropical weather, here is a question I have always had......Why do thunderstorms (the heavy summertime afternoon variety so frequent in the South are what I was thinking of) flare up and are caused by the heating of the day yet thunderstorms associated with tropical systems appear to flare up (and thus strengthen) the systems mainly at night?

To the lay person it would appear that the heating of the day would help with thunderstorm activity in a tropical system but that is obviously not the case.

Why the difference? Thanks. Love the site !