Different fog types and formations
Getting deeper into fall, many people have started to notice increasing fog during their early morning commutes reducing visibility. What many people do not know is that there are actually six different types of fog that form in different ways.
The four main types of fog seen here in Mid-Missouri include advection fog, radiation fog, steam fog, and frontal fog.
Radiation fog occurs after temperatures cool throughout the overnight hours after daytime heating. Air then cools and sink driving moisture to the lower levels of the earth's surface. On calm wind nights, the dewpoints then reach near the air temperature causing fog to occur.
Precipitation fog occurs whenever rain drops begin to evaporate cooling nearby air and increasing the moisture near the surface of the earth leading to the development of fog.
Advection fog and frontal fog are similar in their formation and occurs whenever winds blow a warm and moist layer of air above a cooler one. This then leads to the air above the cooler layer eventually colling causing the moisture to sink becoming fog.
