Frigid morning brings sea smoke to Lake Superior
Winter weather produces some unusual sights along the North Shore
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Many of us are used to seeing beautiful sights along the North Shore in summer.
Winter weather brings its own beauty to the shores of Lake Superior. The interaction between cold air, lake water and ice can play some pretty nifty weather tricks.
Case in point Wednesday morning.
One of the coldest air masses so far this winter season brought subzero temperatures to much of northern Minnesota. Temperatures dipped as cold as minus 17 in Effie, Minn., north of the Iron Range.
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The frigid air mass along the North Shore interacted with the still relatively warm lake water. Lake surface temperatures are still running in the 30s to near 40 degrees in western Lake Superior.
The frigid air mass on top of water about 30 degrees warmer condenses moisture in the air mass above the lake. The result is sea smoke, also called arctic sea smoke.
Here’s a description from the AMS glossary of meteorology.
(Also antarctic sea smoke, arctic sea smoke, arctic smoke.)
Same as steam fog, but often specifically applied to steam fog rising from small areas of open water within sea ice in the Arctic or Antarctic region.
Arctic sea smoke is just one of the wintertime treats along the shores of Lake Superior.