FOX Carolina 21The 411 on Freezing Fog, plus more rain!

The 411 on Freezing Fog, plus more rain!

I mentioned "freezing fog" being possible in our afternoon meeting here at Fox Carolina, and I got a lot of puzzled looks from our staff!  So I figured it might a good weather phenomenon to highlight in the blog today!  Fog can form overnight when we have lingering ground moisture at the surface, light winds and an inversion (an area of warmer temps slightly above the surface).  We have that combinations of ingredients tonight, plus temps in the mountains will likely drop below freezing.  That would mean that if fog developed, it would be categorized as freezing fog.  The droplets within the fog or low cloud can remain at liquid form even when temps are below freezing (they become super-cooled, but wont freeze until they come into contact with an object to freeze upon).  But, once the droplets come into contact with a frozen surface, it will create a light icing on that surface.  This could occur on mountain bridges and overpasses tonight.  So, watch out for some slick spots tomorrow AM, but this shouldn't be a big issue.  The Upstate and northeast GA should stay at or right above freezing, which should prevent any issues.

Mild temps expected as the fog breaks up on Wednesday!  Then Wednesday night more rain heads in!  It could get moderate to heavy at times as a front pushes in midday Thursday.  An isolated t-storm will be possible south of I85 during the day on Thursday, but thanks to very low/near zero instability we shouldn't have any severe weather issues.

Our weekend system that we talked about yesterday is still looking interesting.  Regardless, it should be a big rain-maker for the Upstate/northeast GA on Saturday night-Sunday AM, and may produce a wintry mix/snow in the mountains.  For now, the cold air doesn't appear to really be in place for a whole lot of wintry weather, but when we have a low moving in from the south this time of year it always bares watching!  Bufkit GFS 12z shows 1.5 inches of rain for the Upstate, and keeps precipitation mostly rain around Asheville as well.  Near the TN border we'll stand the best chance for some accumulating snow this weekend, and I'll look forward to Andy's posts on the weekend later this week.