The sound field in the “shadow zone” (diffraction region) formed over a plane boundary in an atmosphere with a constant vertical temperature gradient is analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. The boundary condition at the plane is given by a normal acoustic impedance independent of the angle of incidence. As in the corresponding problem of underwater sound where the boundary is a pressure release surface, it is found that the major portion of the sound pressure in the shadow zone decays exponentially with distance at a rate proportional to the one‐third power of frequency and two‐thirds power of temperature gradient. The effect of boundary impedance enters mainly through its resistive component. The rate of sound decay for a pressure release boundary (zero impedance) is found to be 2.3 times that for a rigid boundary (infinite impedance).Sound pressure measurements in the shadow zone in a laboratory chamber in which a large temperature gradient was created were made for both hard and absorbing boundaries, and the results were found in essential agreement with theory.