When you’ve frolicked on a seashore within the Grand Strand this fall, you might have observed a low-lying haze throughout the crescent shoreline.
The Myrtle Seashore space is house to 2 sorts of fog: mist that types alongside the shoreline and sea fog that covers the world. Right here’s why and once you’ll see them.
Ocean mist
Not like blankets of fog that roll inland and out to sea, localized seashore fog is brought on by the surf spray.
“As a result of the waves are breaking, if the environment is good, you may get that low visibility as you look down the seashore or up the seashore the opposite route,” mentioned Steven Pfaff, warning coordination meteorologist on the Nationwide Climate Service in Wilmington.
Wind, moisture and wave motion are all atmospheric situations that contribute to the mist that types on seashores within the space. The waves have to be sturdy sufficient after they crash into the land to create spray. However for the fog to type, it additionally wants enough moisture within the air and calmer winds.
Whereas this sort of fog can type anytime of 12 months, it may be extra widespread within the spring and fall, in keeping with Pfaff. The mist could make for an fascinating sight and, as a result of it solely types on the seashore, it gained’t trigger any points for visibility.
Sea fog
Then again, sea fog can pose an issue for planes and boats within the Myrtle Seashore space.
“That’s a operate of the moisture spreading, particularly in a southerly wind, over cool water temperatures,” Pfaff mentioned. “It simply generates a extra widespread space of fog over the shelf waters, the coastal waters.”
As a result of coastal fog typically types when air is hotter than the ocean floor it touches, the phenomenon is most typical within the Grand Strand from the late fall to the early spring.
Whereas the local weather might have some hotter days, water temperatures stay extra constantly cool. These situations are excellent for forming thick fog over the water.
