Monday, January 12, 2009

Freezing fog in North Alabama


Decatur, Alabama just before 7:30 a.m.


Decatur, Alabama around 7:30 a.m.

There were numerous accidents in North Alabama this morning resulting from poor driving conditions caused by freezing fog. Kudos to the National Weather Service for predicting this and issuing an advisory for it as early as last night.

What is "freezing fog" you may ask? Freezing fog is "regular" fog that persists long enough for water droplets to condense and freeze to exposed surfaces when the temperature is at or below freezing. It is the same principal as freezing rain, when rain falls and freezes on contact with the surface.

There is sometimes confusion between freezing fog and ice fog. Ice fog occurs when the temperature is well below zero and droplets freeze into tiny ice crystals in the air. This is rarely seen outside of the Arctic or Antarctic circles.

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2 comments:

Wayfarer said...

Was watching the weather up there as I wanted some snow shots, but James Spann said nope not gonna happen except flurries..Maybe next time Mike. Stay warm and safe Bro!

Mike Wilhelm said...

If it is gonna be cold, it might as well snow. That's my motto.