Cooler Night Temps Lead To Fog

Waking up to fog has been a common occurrence this month, a result of cooler temperatures moving in.

Local Weather Expert Michael Detwiler said the Upper Cumberland around this time of year has a lot of warm days and cold nights which causes radiational fog. Detwiler said radiation fog impacts the early morning drive to work.

“It can be shallow as three or four feet and as deep as a thousand feet,” Detwiler said. “And that’s the type of fog we see the most. It can reduce visibility to near zero at times and can make driving very hazardous.”

Detwiler said around the Dale Hollow and Center Hill Lake we will see evaporation fog which is caused when cold air meets warm water. Detwiler said for those driving late at night or in the early mornings the safest way to drive through fog is by having their fog lights or low beams on and slow down while driving.

“Always use your low-beam headlights,” Detwiler said. “Your car may be equipped with fog lights if you want to have them on as an additional item that’s great, but always use those low beams. If you turn on your high beams your high beams will reflect off the fog making it more difficult to drive.”

Detwiler said fogs usually start in August. Detwiler said he said he breaks people’s hearts as he debunked a myth.

“If you count the number of fogs in August that will be the number of snows that you will have in the wintertime and there is no correlation at all,” Detwiler said. “So a lot of people will say oh my goodness I’ve heard that for years, but it’s simply not true.”