Last week a student in my Atmospheric Sciences 101 class, a member of the UW Crew Team (Marc Tennesen), showed me some pictures of steam fog taken early last week over Lake Washington.
I was stunned by their beauty and I want to share them with you. Surreal, magical, ethereal. Here are a few.
This is steam fog season around Lake Washington.
Steam fog generally occurs when the air temperature is at least 20F cooler than the water temperature. Such a condition is most frequent in fall when the water is relatively warm after a summer of sunshine.
Below is a plot of Lake Washington’s water temperature this year. Got as high as roughly 70F in late August, and was about 55F early last week. Early last week, surface air temperatures dropped down to freezing, providing a large temperature differential between cool air and warm water. Thus, the steam fog.
