What is fog, and how is it formed?

Summer fog at the river is unusually beautiful. Only at such moments do you understand how good it is to live! And far away the banks, closed by a misty haze, evoke lyrical memories and dreams.

However, even the most aesthetic esthete does not always have an answer to the question of what fog is and what is the mechanism of its formation. If you also do not know this, we invite you to read our article.

It should start with the fact that this natural phenomenon is formed if the heated air per day is in contact with the cold surface of water or soil.

So what is fog? This is the condensation of water vapor in the form of minute droplets (aerosols), which, gathered in one place, reduce visibility sometimes to zero.

We note that the formation of fogs is impossible without solid or liquid particles, called condensation nuclei. It is on them that water begins to precipitate, forming droplets. It goes without saying that classical fogs from water are formed only when the temperature of the ambient air is not lower than -20 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, their ice form is formed.

By the way, what is fog from ice? In fact, their formation begins with the condensation of the same water on the particles in the air, but because of the low temperature these droplets instantly pass into a solid fraction. Considering that the refractive index of ice is higher, visibility in this case falls even more.

This will be confirmed to you by all drivers who have at least once worked in the Far North. In such conditions it is extremely difficult to drive, as even the fog lights almost do not help. Yes, and the glass icy in a couple of minutes, so that it is simply unrealistic to see the road.

Most often, fog (the nature of which we have examined) is formed in the autumn time, since air during this period cools more slowly than water or the earth's surface. At the point of origin of this phenomenon of nature, the humidity of the atmospheric air tends to 100%.

As we have already said, the fog structure can be very different. The formation can be represented only by droplets of water, water and ice, and also exclusively by ice crystals.

As you can see, the fog is a multi-faceted phenomenon of nature, and therefore it is not surprising that several species are distinguished:

• Solid type. Visibility is limited almost to zero, the traffic of vehicles and aircraft flights are suspended.
• Smokey variety. The visibility drops medium, the danger with low speed is small.
• "The ground" - the fog is spreading at the soil level.

On the banks of the Canadian Newfoundland with this phenomenon of nature are familiar to all the locals. The fact is that in these parts the Gulf Stream connects with the Labrador Current, which causes a strong temperature difference. Half a year here everything is shrouded in gloomy haze, and therefore pilots and seamen do not like this place very much.

But there are places on our planet in which fogs have never been seen. For example, this is the Indian city of Bombay. Well, the Chilean desert of Atacama has not seen even the rains in the last several hundred (even thousands) years, so there is definitely no place to take this natural phenomenon from there.

So you found out what fog is and where it comes from.