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Mist
And Fog
Are Mist and Fog the Same?
MARK
MANCINI
On Dec. 31, 1988, the Philadelphia Eagles met the Chicago Bears
at Soldier Field. The matchup promised a lot of drama.
Not only was this a playoff game, but the two teams had publicly-feuding
coaches: Buddy Ryan and Mike Ditka.
So yeah, NFL fans expected to see bad blood that day. However,
for a good portion of the game, people in the stands couldn't see anything.
Late in the second quarter, a bank of fog rolled in from Lake
Michigan and smothered the field. And refused to budge.
After halftime, coaches on the sidelines actually lost
sight of their own players at critical moments.
And as The New York Times later
reported, live TV footage of the showdown "had the grainy quality of a
Western movie from the 1930s."
This infamous game is now remembered as the "Fog
Bowl." But was it truly fog that descended upon Chi-Town that day, or just
a thick layer of mist?
Well, "fog" and "mist" are two terms that
describe different degrees of the same phenomenon: condensation.
The science here is pretty interesting.
Condensation is the process by which gas is
turned into liquid. This happens when gas molecules lose energy and slow down.
Said molecules then bond together, forming a liquid.
Now let's backtrack for a second. The gas molecules lose energy
when they make contact with other, cooler molecules. Condensation is therefore
linked to differences in temperature. .
Most people associate the process with water vapor
— and this is where fog comes into play.
Fog is created when cold and warm air meet at or near ground
level. There are many ways for this to occur, and therefore, several different
types of fog exist.
Types of Fog
One well-known variety is called advection fog. It's caused by
warm, moist air passing over a colder surface.
The interaction cools the warm air down, and in the process,
condensation sets in and little droplets of water begin to form around dust
particles in the atmosphere.
Then, those droplets remain airborne.
Floating beads of water reflect light in
all directions, impairing human visibility.
And that's why it's so difficult to see through a thick fog.
The 1988 Eagles vs. Bears game is a perfect example of advection
fog at work. That day, a current of warm, humid air blew over Soldier Field.
Because the air around the stadium was much cooler by
comparison, conditions were ripe for advection fog. Ergo, Chicago fans were
treated to an eerie, murky NFL football game.
Sometimes, a sun-warmed ground is responsible for foggy days.
If heat trapped in the ground radiates into cool air, you'll get
what meteorologists call "radiation fog."
This is most commonly seen at night when
there is little to no wind.
Also, just in case you feel like taking a little field trip, the
best places to find radiation fog are in valleys and around still bodies of
water.
Now just to mix things up a bit, both of these processes we've just
described can also produce mist. The sole difference between
mist and fog is visibility.
Want to know which one you're dealing with? Take a good hard
look through the gloom.
Let's assume you're standing on a flat surface when a
ground-level cloud of suspended water droplets appears.
If you can see another object on the same, horizontal plane
that's further than 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) away from you, then the murk
you're experiencing would technically be classified as mist.
On the other hand, if you can't see beyond 1 kilometer (0.62
meters), it's considered fog.
Mark Mancini
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Mark Mancini
is a freelance writer currently based in Texas. Over the years, he’s covered
every subject from classic horror movies to Abe Lincoln’s favorite jokes. He is
particularly fond of paleontology and has been reporting on new developments in
this field since 2013. When Mark’s not at his writing desk, you can usually
find him on stage somewhere because he loves to get involved with community
theatre. And if you ever feel like trading puns for a few hours, he’s your guy.
The now-infamous 1988 NFC Divisional Playoff game between the
Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears is known as the Fog Bowl because of
the bank of thick fog that covered Soldier Field.
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