Weather U: What is sea fog and how does it form?

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Thursday, January 21, 2021
Weather U: What is sea fog and how does it form?
WATCH: It's common to see sea fog in the Houston area during the winter, but what is it and why does it form?

Sea fog is a common occurrence during the winter in southeast Texas thanks to a combination of cool water temperatures and warm air.

Typically in warm air advection setups, a warm front across the area will bring a surge of warmer and humid Gulf air from south to north across Galveston Bay and into the greater Houston area.

As the warmer air mass passes over the cooler waters, the temperature drops, and the air mass reaches saturation, creating fog.

Unlike radiation fog, sea fog can be pushed north by winds.

Although it starts at the sea, sea fog can reach well inland.

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