Fog, Haze, Mist - What's The Difference?

Fog, haze, smoke, mist, the list goes on for types of atmospheric phenomena that can limit visibility. Let’s look at different dangers and what causes them.

• Fog is what may be the most common and familiar visibility-reducer. Quite literally, fog is like a cloud at ground-level with visible particles of water reducing visibility to less than 5/8th of a mile. Water droplets in fog do not reach or wet the surface like drizzle.
• Mist is quite like fog, but the visibility is higher, greater than 5/8th of a mile, but still less than 7 miles. Mist consists of visible water particles suspended in the air in a moist environment. The dew point and temperature separation must be 3 degrees or less for mist to exist.
• Haze is most found in urban areas since it consists of tiny, dry particles of pollutants. When the dew point is at least 3 degrees cooler than the air temperature, the obscured visibility is often defined as haze.
• Smoke is caused by wildfires and can reduce visibility and cause respiratory issues. Smoke can transform into haze as the jet-stream, a path of high winds well above the surface, carries the particles hundreds of miles.
• Dust can form as wind picks up tiny particles of dirt and sand. Common in the Desert Southwest, dust can not only reduce visibility, but can be dangerous in massive quantities such as found in dust storms.

These are just a few examples of atmospheric particles that can reduce visibility. It’s important to leave extra time and space when on the road during reduced visibility as unforeseen objects can pop up quickly and cause dangerous travel.

Source: weather.gov
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