Night/day cycles and atmospheric effects like ion storms could disable radar and certain technologies.
For a deeper look into the atmospheric world and forgotten development details of Tiberian Sun, check out these community insights: COMMAND.AND.CONQUER.2.TIBERIAN.SUN.rar
The game's development was famously troubled, leading to several "forgotten" or cut features that remained in the game files. One notable example is the (internally dubbed the "weed guy"), an unused infantry unit that was fully functional but never officially implemented. Night/day cycles and atmospheric effects like ion storms