WKYT: Good Question: Why can there still be fog when temps are below zero?
(WKYT) - For today’s Good Question, Greg asks, “How can you have fog when the outside temperature is at or below zero?” He told me he was driving home at night recently when it was cold, but there was ...
Good Question: Why can there still be fog when temps are below zero?
The term fog is typically distinguished from the more generic term cloud in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated locally (such as from a nearby body of water, like a lake or ocean, or from nearby moist ground or marshes). [3]
Fog, cloud of small water droplets that is near ground level and sufficiently dense to reduce horizontal visibility to less than 1,000 metres (3,281 feet). The word fog also may refer to clouds of smoke particles, ice particles, or mixtures of these components.
Advection fog often looks like radiation fog and is also the result of condensation. However, the condensation in this case is caused not by a reduction in surface temperature, but rather by the horizontal movement of warm moist air over a cold surface, such as warm moist air flowing over snow.
You can distinguish between ground fog and advection fog by its motion – ground fog stays put, but advection fog drifts along the ground. Advection fog is also common on bodies of water.
Types of Fog: There are several types of fog, including radiation fog, advection fog, evaporation fog, and upslope fog, each formed under different environmental conditions.