Frozen Fog In Fredericton: A Rare Sight

Nov 19, 2018 was one of the ideally unusual day in Fredericton when frozen fog took over the city and other areas along the Saint John river. This was different than a usual landscape after snowfall as river fog settled around each and every part of a tree and made the entire scenery more dramatic. Normal snowfall settles merely on the surface. However, when fog freezes, perfect snowflakes cover every portion of the tree.

Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of minute water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at/near the Earth’s surface. You might have seen it around lakes, rivers and other areas with water bodies/streams. As it forms, it propagates from its source toward other areas. When atmospheric temperature is below 0 degree C, liquid droplets freeze onto surfaces and form rime (hard and soft). Hard rime is difficult to shake off from trees and is formed when temperature is in the range of -40 degree C. It was soft rime which was formed around Fredericton region at a temperature of around -10 degree C. Wind was calm/slow. Most importantly, St John river was still flowing, which allowed the formation of fog leading to soft rime. Normally, when all atmospheric conditions are met, then only soft/hard rime is formed. Availability of fog is a must. This is why we don’t see this phenomenon when the river is frozen, even if the temperature is around -10 degree C and wind is calm. There is simply no fog. 

Here are some photos taken around downtown Fredericton on Nov 19, 2018. I was curious to know the reason behind this amazing phenomenon. It was exciting to research about it. I hope you guys enjoy the information and photos.

See more: Fredericton in the summer season