THE WONDER & WOW OF WINTER FOG

WINTER FOG

Fog is more common in winter. And it is especially beautiful. It brings a soft hush and a spiritual glow to the landscape. Freezing fog creates magic. Learn more about winter fog and see some amazing images below.

There are 6 main types of winter fog, categorized according to  according to the specific processes that cause tiny water droplets to form and suspend in the air.

Radiation fog tends to only occur in winter. It forms overnight as the air near the ground cools and stabilizes, causing condensation via heat conduction. It usually disappears as the sun rises and heats the ground.

Valley fog happens when cold, dense air settles at the bottom of a valley as warmer air passes above.

Advection fog is generated when very humid air passes over a cool surface, such as snow or a wintry sea.

Upslope fog occurs as air cools rising up a snowy hill or cold mountainside.

Evaporation fog is produced when cold air passes over warmer water and moist land. It can also cause frost.

Freezing fog forms when air temperatures range between 10 and 30℉ in areas with near 100% humidity. The supercooled water droplets remain in the liquid state until they come into contact with a surface upon which they can freeze, forming feathery ice crystals.

Frozen fog, or ice fog, appears primarily in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where temperatures are minus 31℉ or colder. It features frozen, solid ice particles suspended in the air.

HOAR FROST & RIME

Hoar frost is composed of tiny ice crystals, formed by the same process as dew when the temperature of the surface is below freezing point.

Rime is a rough white ice deposit which forms on vertical surfaces exposed to the wind, formed by supercooled water droplets of fog freezing on contact.

WEATHER PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Freezing fog and hoar frost in north Suffolk, UK inspired Andrew Bailey to take a photo that won him a prize in the most recent Weather Photographer of the Year competition.

Moody and mystical, the Herringfleet Mill stands guard over the frosted reed beds as the sun began to burn through the early morning mist.

Read more about Winter Wonder all this week on BeautifulNow, including Magic Winter Wonderland: Lapland, 8 Most Beautiful Winter Trips, Surreal Lakes with Frozen Bubbles and 10 Beautiful Winter Wonderlands. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.

IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Jeff Wallace. “Prairie Dawn.”
2. Image: by Andrei Niemimäki. “Shore.”
3. Image: by Sharon Wallace. Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region. Photo of the Week - “Moose in mist (ME).”
4. Image: by Bitterroot. “Otherworld.”
5. Image: by Dru!. “On The Ridge.”
6. Image: by Lori Belloir “First freeze.”
7. Image: by Samuel Chou. “Lake Stuart Ice Flake.”
8. Image: by Maciej Szczepaniak. “Winter fog.”
9. Image: by Tom Koerner. Courtesy of USFWS Mountain-Prairie. “Coyote in hoar frost on Seedskadee NWR.”
10. Image: by Erin Whittaker. Grand Canyon National Park. “Frost Ribbon.”
11. Image by Andrew Bailey. Courtesy ofWeather Photographer of the Year. “Freezing Fog and Hoar Frost.”
12. Image: by ukgardenphotos. “Freezing Winter Fog in Ashridge Forest, Hertfordshire, UK.”
13. Image: by Denise Krebs. “Winter.”
14. Image: by Tom F Kemp. Untitled.