Difference Between Mist vs Fog

There are a number of reasons why flights get delayed. One of them is adverse weather conditions. This condition also affects other things like your WiFi connections, TV and radio signals, prominence, and so on. It does not necessarily have to be a downpour, snowstorm, or hurricane.

We will be taking a look at the difference between mist vs fog, two seemingly harmless phenomena usually misconstrued for each other. They typically occur quite early in the morning when the weather is cool, owing to the fact that the air temperature is the same as the dew point temperature. They can happen when water particles evaporate from the surface of a water body into the atmosphere, thereby increasing the dew point.

Definition of Mist

Mist is said to occur when cloud-like water droplets suspend in the atmosphere, close to the surface of the earth, forming a density that can mildly hinder visuals. It causes light to be refracted and reflected contrarily, which is the main reason a person may find it difficult to see through it. When seen from a distance, it looks bluish-gray in color and appears to be thicker.

One of the ways you can tell the difference between fog and mist is in the underlying factors that cause the phenomenon in question. In this case, it is caused by a number of natural events. The most common event is temperature inversion – the reversal of the normal behavior of the temperature in the region of the atmosphere closest to the earth surface whereby cool air is replaced by warm air.

Another factor that can give rise to this phenomenon is volcanic activity and change in humidity. In any of the factors mentioned, water globules go through a chemical process known as dispersion to convert the atoms to mist.

Definition of Fog

Fog is defined as the trapping of water vapor close to the surface of the earth, forming an opaque cloud-like overlay of air dense enough to restrict the ability to see to a great extent. This natural phenomenon also affects the way light is reflected and refracted, thereby reducing one’s ability to see clearly through it. According to experts, the simplest way to define this phenomenon is a cloud that touches the ground.

This is a natural event that is most likely to happen in areas that are close to water bodies. It is also influenced by the topography of a particular location, the speed of wind, and so on. When comparing mist vs fog, a particular modification that stands out from the rest is that the latter is denser than the former.

Air is filled with as much water particles as the level of humidity in the environment. The more humid the environment is, the more water the air holds and the warmer it becomes. When the atmosphere starts to cool down, the water molecules begin to condense until it gets to the dew point. At this point, the ability of the air to hold water reduces, and to make up for that, fog begins to form.

Main Differences Between Mist vs Fog

In this section, we will express how these two events are unalike from each other in a tabular form. Note that these two are caused by similar natural occurrences separated by their level of intensity.

Difference Between Mist and Fog: Conclusion

So, the key thing to take away from fog vs mist comparison is the density water in the air. The denser the atmosphere is, the most condensed it gets and the thicker and cloudier it gets. The less the intensity, the less cloudy it is, the more visible it is, and the less time it lasts.