SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/drone-radiation-fog-clear-calm-nights

Radiation fog most often forms under which conditions?

Q: Radiation fog most often forms under which conditions?

Clear, calm nights, especially in low-lying areas like valleys. Radiation fog less than 20 feet thick is called ground fog, and it usually burns off after sunrise.

Clear, calm nights, especially in low-lying areas like valleys.

Clear, calm nights in low-lying areas ✔
Windy afternoons over warm water
Moist air pushed up a mountain slope

Why: On clear nights the ground loses heat fast and chills the air touching it down to its dew point. With little wind, that air stays put and turns to fog.

Huh, didn't know that: Radiation fog less than 20 feet thick is called ground fog, and it usually burns off after sunrise.

The dad joke

What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground beef. What do you call fog with no height? Ground fog.

Like this card?

Play the game

Sources

FAA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Ch. 12 Weather Theory https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/14_phak_ch12.pdf

Test yourself in the game

Flying & DronesWhat makes advection fog different from radiation fog?Flying & DronesThe temperature and dew point are only 1 degree apart. What should you expect?Flying & DronesRadiation fog usually forms under which conditions?

That's stuff everyone should know.

Radiation fog most often forms under which conditions?

Sources

More stuff everyone should know