For fog was merely a cloud that wasn’t too smitten with itself to visit terra firma. ~Jan Karon
The most memorable fog bank I recall was also the most terrifying. My daughter and I were driving down I-55 from St. Louis to West Tennessee on a cold December day. We really should have stayed put in our apartment, but my mother had had bypass surgery, and we needed to get down for a visit. Since we were on an interstate, the highway was divided, and that was a good thing. I couldn’t even see squat, and I don’t need that kind of help. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you will have noticed that I have a history with interstates (see the 10-13-22 post on Great Expectations). Anyway, at times I thought a truck was coming directly at us when, in reality, it was exactly where it should be – WAY across the median and in the farthest lane away to boot. That, and the lights I thought were headlights turned out to be at the top of the rigs’ trailers. Fog distorts vision. It’s puzzling, though, and it’s time I know more about it–you know, while I’m not having to deal with it.
What's the Difference in Fog and Clouds?
National Geographic explains it this way. Fog is always a cloud, but a cloud isn’t always fog. Okay, that isn’t exactly what the article said, but my words stand. It’s the same concept as ice always being water, but water isn’t always ice. A cloud is fog when it touches the ground. Water can also be vapor, and when it condenses you see the water droplets. So I guess that means you see water hanging in the air when there’s deep fog. I am no scientist, but that’s the way I understand the National Geographic explanation.
AND, did you know there are different types of fog? Me either. Here you go. As an aside, Brittanica takes us further into the weeds than I want to go, but you be you.
Types of Fog
- Radiation – as the day’s heat rises from the earth into the air, it creates moisture droplets. Radiation, or ground fog, is low-lying. If often develops at night.
- Advection – appears to be the reverse direction of radiation. That is, it occurs when warm air containing moisture (wind) passes over cool surface air, often where tropical breezes pass over the ocean. This might occur at any time of day or night.
- Valley – it might shock you to learn that this type of fog is so named because it develops in valleys. 🙄 The surrounding higher elevations serve as barriers to keep the dense air trapped. This most often occurs in winter months.
- Freezing – again with the obvious nomenclature. When you would have fog, but when the temps are low enough, you get freezing fog. The water droplets freeze on whatever objects they find.
Is Fog Wretched or Intriguing?
As with so many conditions in life, it depends. I recently heard of someone who received a diagnosis of a mini-stroke rather than the onset of dementia that he had suspected. Neither is optimal, but one is worse. Everything may not be relative, but much in this life is.
The weekend my daughter and I drove through the fog for more than two hours was frightening. However, it may not have been as frightening as the weekend before–or was it after?–when we drove through freezing rain. Our defroster couldn’t keep up, and we had to stop periodically to break the ice off the windshield. That, too, was perilous since stopping meant someone might slide into us unintentionally. If memory serves, we drove out of the fog more quickly than we skated through the ice.
No doubt fog can be dangerous. But it can be so lovely when it isn’t impeding travel. You know, early in the morning, when I look out the window and everything looks muted? I see no flaws and the world seems quieter. Hushed. Makes you think of Herman’s Hermits, doesn’t it?
Our perspective about the weather (among other natural occurrences) changes with the circumstances, probably appropriately. Does that negate any potentially positive qualities of rain, snow, or even fog? Maybe, but does it have to?
I had heard of frozen fog but had never seen it until we went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We drove out of town to the edge of the National Park (Grand Tetons?). There was a herd of bison with what looked like low clouds hovering over them. The temp was 17 degrees, therefore this “cloud” must have been frozen fog. Beautiful visual.
I’ll bet that was lovely and probably something I won’t see except in GSMNP. I don’t travel much where the temperatures are likely to drop that low. 😉
“That low?” Add 30 degrees and I bet you still wouldn’t go on purpose. 😆
There are few places I go on purpose, even when the weather is temperate. 😉
I have ridden hundreds of thousands of miles on motorcycles through the years. I have had a number of fog experiences and being on 2 wheels takes it to a new level. You are afraid to stop because if you pull over and a car does the same, it can kill you. I try to get in behind a big truck and watch for a ramp to take me to a safe place. Fender benders for cars are sad family gatherings for a motorcycle.
As you know, I don’t ride, but I have thought about that often – that a road hazard that a car just hits and moves on could be life-changing on a motorcycle. No, thank you.
Fog is a perfect metaphor for traumatic phases of life, or even for the false perceptions or beliefs we acquire through life. The fog obscures that which is true and real, and it is only when the fog lifts that we can see the truth that surrounded us all the time.
Precisely. Believe what you want, but it doesn’t change the truth whether or not you can see it.