Lake Smoke

December dawn sometimes illumines an unfamiliar lakescape. Beyond the parlor windows where Carley and I greet the day as I sip my morning tea, the surface of Lake Champlain appears to be smoking. Lake smoke. It’s not, of course, but the illusion is spellbinding.

Steam fog (aka sea smoke) happens when cold, wintery air collects over the lake’s moist heat sink. Such a huge, deep body of water holds plenty of residual heat from warmer months, cooling slowly as autumn yields to winter. The wispy-but-opaque evaporation fog tells the story this morning: still warm-ish lake water overcome with cold winter air. Like a slow, visual sigh of acceptance. (View other lake smoke posts on Rosslyn Redux.)

Lake Smoke Haiku

As December dawns
the lake sighs wispy, misty
summer souvenirs.

What is Lake Smoke?

Allow me to pass the meteorological baton to wiser explainers.

Sea smoke, frost smoke, or steam fog is fog which is formed when very cold air moves over warmer water.

It forms when a light wind of very cold air mixes with a shallow layer of saturated warm air immediately above the warmer water. The warmer air is cooled beyond the dew point and can no longer hold as much water vapor, so the excess condenses out. The effect is similar to the “steam” produced over a hot bath or a hot drink, or even an exercising person. (Source: Wikipedia)

Ah-ha. And here again…

[Evaporation or Mixing Fog] forms when sufficient water vapor is added to the air by evaporation and the moist air mixes with cooler, relatively drier air… Steam fog forms when cold air moves over warm water. When the cool air mixes with the warm moist air over the water, the moist air cools until its humidity reaches 100% and fog forms. This type of fog takes on the appearance of wisps of smoke rising off the surface of the water. (Source: Weather.gov)

Lake smoke it is to me. And to Carley. The enchanting evaporation of summertime into wintertime…